Kohli: 'Not in the space to have to prove my worth and value'

[rollingstoned]

Kohli: 'Not in the space to have to prove my worth and value'

 

"I'm not going out there to prove anything to anyone. I'm going to play because I love playing the game," Virat Kohli says about his mindset

 

 

 

Virat Kohli wants to play the 2027 ODI World Cup but he also doesn't want to be part of set-ups that make him feel like he has to prove his worth and his value. Retired from both Tests and T20Is, Kohli didn't directly say the India set-up was such, but he told a Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) podcast that he was not keen on a workplace where "people say we believe in your abilities, and then a week later they start questioning the way you operate".

 

"We're in mid-2026," Kohli said. "I've been asked so many times, 'Do you want to play '27?' Why would I leave my home, get my stuff over, and be like, 'I don't know what I want.' Of course, if I'm playing, I want to play cricket, I want to carry on. Playing a World Cup for India is amazing."

 

Kohli, 37, has scored three hundreds and three half-centuries in his last seven ODI innings, against New Zealand, South Africa and Australia. In between he also played the domestic 50-over games in Vijay Hazare Trophy, returning scores of 131 and 77 in his two outings. In IPL 2026, he is currently the third-highest run-getter with with 484 runs from 12 innings, with a hundred and three fifties and a strike rate of 165.75.

 

 

"Today, my perspective is very clear," Kohli said. "If I can add value to the environment that I'm a part of and the environment feels like I can add value, I'll be seen. If I'm made to feel like I need to prove my worth and my value, I'm not in that space.

 

"Because I'm being honest to my preparation. I'm being honest to how I approach the game. I put my head down. I work hard. I'm very thankful to god for giving me everything that I've been given in my cricketing career. I feel very blessed and grateful for the opportunity. And when I arrive to play, I put my head down, I work as hard, if not harder, than anyone else. And I play the game in the right way. You want me to run from boundary to boundary for 40 overs in an ODI game, I will do that without a complaint. Because I prepare accordingly.

 

"I prepare for the fact that I will field 50 overs every ball like it's the last ball I'm going to play in my career, and I will bat that way and I will run between the wickets that way, and I will do everything possible for the team. After operating like this, if I have to be in a place where I have to prove my worth and value, that place is not meant to be for me. And I am very clear in my head from that perspective."

"The moment I feel like people are trying to complicate it for me and be like, oh, but this and that, either be clear and honest upfront or be quiet and let me play"

Virat Kohli

 

Kohli said he was now playing just for the joy of playing and not to prove himself to anyone. "That's why when I went back to play, I was very clear in my head: I'm not going out there to prove anything to anyone," Kohli said. "I'm going to play because I love playing the game. That's how I played the Vijay Hazare [Trophy] as well.

 

"It was amazing. There was not a person in the [BCCI's] Centre for Excellence [in Bengaluru]. Firstly, I thought I've played for so long and will it be motivating enough? But the moment my intentions switched to 'I want to play because I love playing; I just love batting and I just want to focus on that', I could not care [less about the stage]. It's not like I didn't field. I fielded the whole game, and I was diving around, and I felt like a child again. I was like, 'This is not about anyone else, this is about me and the game and that's what it's going to be'.

 

"And the moment I feel like people are trying to complicate it for me and be like, oh, but this and that, either be clear and honest upfront or be quiet and let me play."

 

Virat Kohli has been scoring heavily in IPL 2026•IPL

 

Kohli didn't specify whether these "people" were the outside voices or the managements he plays with. "Look, if you go to your workplace, and if people say we believe in your abilities, and then a week later they start questioning the way you operate, it's like, why?" Kohli said. "Either tell me on day one I'm not good enough or I'm not needed. Or if you've said I'm good enough and you say we're not even thinking otherwise, then be quiet."

 

Kohli called for assessments not to be based on results alone because "no one can guarantee performance in any space". "If you start operating up and down because of results, you can never have a consistent stance," Kohli said. "And I'm not someone who behaves like that. As I said, when I come to play, I know what I can deliver in terms of effort.

 

"No one can guarantee performance in any space. But in terms of effort and commitment, I know what I can deliver because I literally live my life like that.

 

"It's not like I prepare for a series to suddenly start working hard two or three weeks before. I'm like that through the year. So if you call me to play and if you say there's a series coming up, I'm ready. I'm always ready because that's my daily life. I work out, we eat well at home. It's because I like living that way. It's not only to play cricket. So that's where I am."

 

 

 

Ab form acha hai to ye sab dialogue mar raha hai. If we can't give guarantees to anyone else why give it to him? 

[kosingh]

Im practice I don't know what that means. He doesn't want to travel with the rest of the team? He doesn't want to practice with the rest of the team? He doesn't want to play as much domestic cricket as the others are asked to? 

[jf1gp_1]

Dont worry Virat. A decade from now, no one will think/care about you cause likes of Vaibhav will be the darling. Then you can keep repeating i don't have to prove anything to anyone. You will of course have all the money you need but not fans running behind you from whom you pretend to hide today. 

 

For us Sachin was the big deal but for todays generation which is in that 16-18 age group, abhishek sharma is greater than sachin. that how it works so dont you worry kohli. 

[Gollum]

 

[New guy]

No matter how big you are, Indian cricket team is not someone's personal feifdom that they can just waltz in, no questions asked

[crictime]

Being on BCCI's payroll, what views BCCI have about him will matter most. If BCCI is okay to pay him on central contract after reviewing his performance then that settles everything. Right now both the employer and employee seems to be in a contract with each other. 

[Manucrick]

Sachin will be remembered another 100 year not this England citizen

[Ultimate_Game]

16 hours ago, kosingh said:

Im practice I don't know what that means. He doesn't want to travel with the rest of the team? He doesn't want to practice with the rest of the team? He doesn't want to play as much domestic cricket as the others are asked to? 

 

13 hours ago, New guy said:

No matter how big you are, Indian cricket team is not someone's personal feifdom that they can just waltz in, no questions asked

 

13 hours ago, Gollum said:

 

 

13 hours ago, jf1gp_1 said:

Dont worry Virat. A decade from now, no one will think/care about you cause likes of Vaibhav will be the darling. Then you can keep repeating i don't have to prove anything to anyone. You will of course have all the money you need but not fans running behind you from whom you pretend to hide today. 

 

For us Sachin was the big deal but for todays generation which is in that 16-18 age group, abhishek sharma is greater than sachin. that how it works so dont you worry kohli. 

 

This is the definition of entitlement. So apparently Kohli wants to walk into the team without playing domestic cricket, or traveling with the team and just play IPL and ODIs. This is not his personal fiefdom and I wish BCCI had the balls to lay down the law.

[Suhaan]

No you are Pythagoras Theorem,you need to proved everytime!

[The Realist]

Rare PR failure by King Kohli? @Austin 3:!6

[New guy]

9 minutes ago, The Realist said:

Rare PR failure by King Kohli? @Austin 3:!6

He didn't expect this to be leaked 

[Lord]

52 minutes ago, New guy said:

He didn't expect this to be leaked 

Eh? This was a podcast for RCB channel

[Lord]

16 hours ago, Gollum said:

 

Even there he was just asked to play Ranjis

[vvvslaxman]

I agree. He has nothing else to prove. He can happily retire.

[jf1gp_1]

6 hours ago, Ultimate_Game said:

 

 

 

 

This is the definition of entitlement. So apparently Kohli wants to walk into the team without playing domestic cricket, or traveling with the team and just play IPL and ODIs. This is not his personal fiefdom and I wish BCCI had the balls to lay down the law.

We have a few upcoming ODIs. When we see likes of sharma and vaibhav sitting out for virats and rohit fans will turn. 

[Ultimate_Game]

33 minutes ago, jf1gp_1 said:

We have a few upcoming ODIs. When we see likes of sharma and vaibhav sitting out for virats and rohit fans will turn. 

 

IMO the next WC will be sacrificed in this political back and forth. We should be playing the youngsters and finalizing the playing combo similar to what we did in T20s but that's not possible playing likes of Rohit, Kohli, KL, Jadeja. When half the team is over the hill and you can only fit in one or two youngsters, it's not the same thing as playing a young team.

 

I can already see how things are gonna play out... India will struggle in the WC and Kohli & Rohit fanboys like putrevus will play the same old broken record "but look at XYZ, they're a bigger problem. The youngsters should've done better". And they would ignore the fact that these oldies take up prime positions in the top order, and simply by forcing a youngster or two doesn't make the team a young team. You've got to play your best performers at their peak like Jaiswal, Sooryavanshi, Sai, Ishan from top to bottom for the team to get better coz one or two youngsters may fail but others will pick up the slack. That's what they did in T20s as well. But when you play just one or two deserving players and other spots are taken up by has beens, it wouldn't matter.

[wanted_desi]

It's ironic coming from him as he has done this to so many in the past, giving confused signals. Chopping middle of no where. 

[Norman]

How many times will this guy make this same statement? 

[Mariyam]

Had tried this stunt with my mom many years ago. 

 

"Not in the space to prove my worth and value anymore. Will not take the exams" I said.

 

Chamaat! was the reply

[putrevus]

It is 100% true Kohli does not have to prove his worth every match he plays, it is evident that he still is the best odi player in the team .His fitness is not going to be a problem unless he has any injury.

 

GOAT will be an asset for his team in 2027 world cup.Moronic Gambhir has any issues , he should come out in public and state them.I don't think Agarkar is that stupid to remove his best batsman from the team.

 

But lot things can happen till 2027, all parties involved should have open line of communications.

 

 

Edited May 18 by putrevus