Paddy Upton tells Gulf News how Virat Kohli recovered from his slump

Dubai: King Virat Kohli has regained his throne, ruling the cricket world with his trademark knocks. But that was not before the former Indian skipper went through a slump in form that carried on agonisingly for months, during which he even had a bout of depression, before a Kohli 2.0 resurfaced.

Paddy Upton, India’s former mental conditioning coach, told Gulf News the reasons for Kohli going though bad form and how talismanic batter overcame it to return to where he belongs.

Kohli's phenomenal rise in world cricket

Kohli, after an unspectacular start, made a phenomenal rise  when he made huge changes to his lifestyle, that included losing weight and staying hungry after sacrificing his favourite food. The professionalism followed and he rose to the top of world cricket.

“Kohli went very hard on himself for about 10 years when he was always in the top three in the world. He was a superstar, but eventually, the law of averages caught up with him at a time when he was moving into his next life cycle,” Upton told Gulf News. “To a degree it was brought on with him getting married and having the kid. We all go through a shifting process. Up until then, Virat was all about Virat and his game, which really worked for him, but that’s not sustainable. It’s when the family piece came in for him, it was probably coincidental, but his runs started drying up and he went through a difficult period,” added Upton, who was in Dubai for a workshop for corporate leaders, Unlock Your Leadership A-Game.

How Kohli brought in the change

So far what the South African said has been well documented, but he narrated how Kohli managed to change things around, during which he was also involved in the process of helping the star batter return to his own orbit.

“Kohli’s challenge was to figure out with this different view on life, the depth and breadth of it, how do I still follow that and be highly competitive and score runs? It took him a while to figure that out and what we see is the new Virat Kohli,” Upton narrated the process that went though Kohli’s mind during a period of 28 months when he had not scored a century. It doesn’t mean that the 34- year-old had not scored runs, but he couldn’t match his lofty standards when he scored centuries at will.

Relating to success and failures

“I was fortunate to work with him as his coach for a while to help him navigate though period and how do we take this new mindset, this new way of operating and apply it to his batting, apply it to scoring hundreds and apply it to when you don’t score hundreds that you relate to results, the success, to batting in a way that’s different to previously and that’s aligned with the person you are now. I think he’s really managed to marry that really well now,” Upton, who was also the coach of Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils in Indian Premier League, clarified on the process that ended with Kohli scoring runs in the 2022 Asia Cup in the UAE, that included his maiden Twenty20 International century against Afghanistan.

After scoring his century against Afghanistan, Kohli, known for his boisterous, aggressive celebrations, had a subdued reaction, signalling the beginning of a new era.

“What we see now, in terms of character, is a very different Virat Kohli. He is more grounded, his perspective on life has fundamentally changed. It’s broadened and deepened. And we see a much more mature, evolved person.”

Kohli's rule in Australia

Upton must have seen Kohli from close quarters during the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia, where the King was back at his best guiding India to victories before losing to eventual champions England in the semi-finals.

Highs and lows are part and parcel of a player’s career and it is important how one handles it. Upton feels that one should not get carried away from the praises that they receive when they are riding the crest of a wave and at the same time disheartened when the going gets tough.

“One thing that happens with a lot of young athletes who have a great breakthrough season. They’re suddenly thrust into the limelight and the expectations are so high, particularly from the fans out there. But their run of form is going to dry up and people are not going to love you as much. If you are grounded, then you will be unaffected by that incredible love and then that criticism that is going to follow, which are natural ups and downs in a career,” Upton concluded.