Virat Kohli took some time off from international cricket prior to getting back to the Indian side for the Asia Cup 2022. He was rested for the tours through West Indies and Zimbabwe and the former India skipper used an opportunity to unwind and shift his focus from cricket. Kohli has been battling for runs in 2022 and the break probably helped him as he played a vital knock of 35 runs and completed as the joint-top scorer for India in the pressure match against Pakistan on Sunday and proceeded with the development in his form with an unbeaten knock of 59 against Hong Kong.

In a meeting with Star Sports, before the beginning of the competition, Kohli had opened up about his struggle with mental health and why he really needed the break.

Presently, former Australia captain and batting legend Ricky Ponting has opened up on the issue and has said that he believes Kohli would be back among runs during the ICC T20 World Cup soon in Australia.

“When I saw his runs and then I read on social media over the last few days, it sounded like he found himself in quite a dark place. Like a lot of us men, he wasn’t willing to talk about it and share it. It sounds like when he has started to share, started to talk, it might have just freed him up a bit and he started to feel better about himself again. I just hope that we see him back at his best and in the World Cup. I’d rather see Virat come out here (in Australia) and be one of the leading players in the tournament, but just make sure he doesn’t score many runs against Australia when they play!”

Ponting said on the ICC Review

Kohli looked sharp in the match against Hong Kong as he played some trademark strokes to score yet another half-century in T20 internationals.

He hit three sixes and also rotated the strike well to assist the team with wrapping up with a major score close by Suryakumar Yadav’s raid.

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India’s total of 192/2 proved a lot for Hong Kong and the Rohit Sharma-led side registered a 40-run win to qualify for the Super-4 phase.