Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar [Image Courtsey: Twitter]

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar has said that he is proud of Indian skipper Virat Kohli for opening up on his battles with depression during the forgettable 2014 Test series in England.

Virat Kohli, in a recent chat with renowned commentator Mark Nicholas, opened up about the mental health struggles that he endured during the 2014 tour of England.

Despite having impinged himself as one of the leading batsmen in the world across all three formats, Virat Kohli endured a horrendous outing during his maiden Test outing on English soil.

Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar
Virat Kohli [Image Credits: Getty]
The champion Indian cricketer failed to counter the swinging conditions and the Dukes as he managed a mere 134 runs across 10 completed innings. Kohli revealed that he felt like the loneliest man on the planet amid his on-field struggles and that he should have seemed advice from a professional.

“It’s not a great feeling to wake up knowing that you won’t be able to score runs and I think all batsmen have felt that at some stage that you are not in control of anything at all,” Virat Kohli said. You just don’t understand how to get over it. That was a phase when I literally couldn’t do anything to overturn things. I felt like I was the loneliest guy in the world,” he added.

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“Personally, for me that was a revelation that you could feel that lonely even though you a part of a big group. Won’t say I didn’t have people who I could speak to but not having a professional to speak to who could understand what I am going through completely, I think is a huge factor,” Virat Kohli said.

Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar
Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar [Image Courtsey: PTI]
During the podcast, Virat also revealed how a chat with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar opened his eyes on how to counter mental health issues.

According to Kohli, Sachin had advised him to not fight the negative thoughts coming in his head and instead let them pass as fighting only makes those feelings stronger.

“I did have a chat with him about the mental side of things as well and the thing that he told me was, in cricket what he experienced was if you are going through a strong negative feeling and if that is coming into your system regularly, it is best to let it pass,” said Virat Kohli.

“If you start fighting that feeling, it grows stronger. So, that is the advice I took on board and my mindset really opened up from then on,” he added.

An article on the same was shared by a leading daily on Twitter. Sachin Tendulkar proceeded to quote tweet the article where he wrote-

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”@imVkohli, proud of your success & decision to share such personal experiences. These days youngsters are constantly judged on social media. Thousands speak about them but not to them. We need to be able to listen to them and help them flourish,”

Also Read: How A Conversation With Sachin Tendulkar Helped Virat Kohli Tackle His Mental Health Issues