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India's star batter Virat Kohli has always been an animated character on the field. Kohli's aggression has even managed to intimidate the Australians who were considered bullies. While Kohli shoulder-barged into Australia's young opener Sam Konstas and got fined for it, he has relatively calmed down on the field. The 36-year-old is confused whether people want him to be aggressive on the field or be a calming figure. He admitted that sometimes he goes overboard but he does it all to help the team win.
"It's naturally kind of getting tapered down again," Kohli said at Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) Innovational Lab Indian Sports Summit ahead of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. "People are not happy about that either. I don't know what to do, to be honest. Earlier, my aggression was a problem, now my calmness is a problem. It's like, I have no idea what needs to be done, that's why I don't focus on it much.
"The kind of person I am, the kind of personality I have, yes, I do have tendencies to kind of go overboard. And I've never shied away from that. But the starting point is, okay, sometimes it might not have gone out with the right intent, but more often than not, the starting point has been of care. I want this all to be an event that helps my team win. That's why you see the celebration that I have when we pick up a wicket in a tight situation. Because I'm like, yes, this is exactly what needs to happen. And I represent it like that."
Kohli explains his aggression
Kohli feels that people don't understand that his aggression comes from the right place and never misplaced. Also, his aggression is toning down gradually but not his competitiveness.
"For a lot of people, it might not have been something that they're able to process. But for me, it always comes from the right place. While batting, of course, it puts me in a different place. Because I don't have small, regular events to get excited about. I mean, the end goal is finishing the game. And then, yes, I can represent it the way I used to in the past. Again, things are happening naturally with me. It's getting tapered down naturally," Kohli said.
"My competitiveness has not gone down. So, I think for a lot of people, it's very difficult to process how is the competitiveness going to be at the same level if the aggression is not. You can still be aggressive in your mind, but you don't necessarily need to express it out there every now and then out of frustration, which I have - I mean, in the recent past as well, which is not a great thing, to be honest, I don't feel great about those things myself."
Kohli's aggressive style will be on display as RCB takes on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) away from home in IPL 2025 opener on March 22.
