Virat Kohli, the former India captain, feels playing in a full stadium isn’t as scary or stressful as playing on Centre Court of Wimbledon. Kohli said that the only time cricket can feel the same is during big matches like India vs Pakistan in the World Cup.
Kohli was present at the Novak Djokovic vs Alex de Minaur match on Monday. This was his first public appearance since the Bengaluru stampede during Royal Challengers Bangalore’s IPL title celebration.
Kohli told Star Sports’ Vijay Amritraj, There’s a lot of pressure because the stadium is full of people. But it’s not as scary as Centre Court because the fans are far away from you. When we’re batting, the fans are too far, so you can focus and do your own thing. You don’t hear comments or cheers right in your ears. It’s only when you’re fielding near the boundary, but you don’t have the pressure of succeeding or failing based on your skill.
He also said, But here, everything is at stake and can change with a single point. The pressure that tennis players must feel playing on Centre Court must be huge. I really respect tennis players because they have to stay calm, be fit and have mental strength. The experience might be similar but that feeling of intimidation only happens to us during big World Cup games, like India vs Pakistan or a semi-final or final. These tennis players must feel that way from quarter-finals to final which I think is a lot of pressure.
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Kohli is known to perform well in big matches, especially against Pakistan. In ODI World Cups he has scored 209 runs against them with an average of 52.25, 224 runs in Champions Trophy with an average of 112 and 312 runs with a strike rate of 132.76.
He retired after the 2024 T20 World Cup, won the Player of the Match in the final and ended his Test career in May. He will continue to play ODIs but India doesn’t have any matches till October.
