There can’t be just one template to success: Kohli

Mumbai: IPL’s all-time leading scorer, Virat Kohli, feels playing in the lucrative league for 14 years has made him realise that there is not just one template to succeed in the game in which he has attained superstar status.

It also helped him add a different dimension to his “understanding of the game”, the former India captain said. Seeking to regain his touch after battling a prolonged slump in form, Kohli has so far accumulated nearly 6500 runs in the IPL, having played for Royal Challengers Bangalore from its inaugural edition in 2008.

On IPL’s impact on his life, Kohli said on ‘Inside RCB’ show on Star Sports, “I think outside of playing for India, IPL gave me the platform to show my capabilities, compete against the best in the world and share knowledge with them. I think that was the most important thing that added a different dimension to my understanding of the game. This helped me move ahead in a very progressive manner.

“I was picking brains of people that probably I wouldn’t have come across otherwise on things like how to play in different conditions and what mind-set they have. You know, people have different ways to succeed so it can’t be just one template. So I used to be so excited and grateful for the opportunity to pick their brains and just learn from them day in and day out and that’s for me has been the standout feature of IPL.”

Apart from his sedate fifty in the last game against Gujarat Titans and a knock of 48 earlier in the tournament versus Mumbai Indians, Kohli has mostly struggled for runs this season. The batting maestro has so far scored 186 runs in 10 matches at a below-par average of 20.67. Kohli is the only player who has been with the same franchise from the very beginning of the IPL.

On his loyalty towards RCB (even though he still hasn’t won a trophy for them in the IPL), Kohli said, “To be very honest I thought about it. Yes, I won’t shy away from it and I have been approached many times as well to come into the auction somehow, put my name there and stuff. And then I thought about it, I was like at the end of the day everyone has X numbers of years that they live and then you die and life moves on. There would have been many great people who won trophies but no one addresses you like that. No one addresses you in the room like ‘Oh he’s an IPL champion or he’s a World Cup champion.