MSK Prasad on Virat Kohli’s resurgence: “I feel the break has actually pushed his career forward by 4-5 years”

Former chairman of selectors MSK Prasad reckons that Virat Kohli’s decision to take a break from the game has pushed his career forward by four to five years. According to the former keeper-batter, time away from the game helped the 34-year-old understand himself better.

Kohli endured a horror run in international cricket, during which he failed to register a single three-figure score for over 1000 days. He decided to take a break following a poor tour of England and has been in terrific form since returning to the Indian team during the Asia Cup.

The former India captain was the Player of the Series during the recently concluded ODI at home against Sri Lanka, scoring two hundreds in three matches. Sharing his thoughts on Kohli’s resurgence, Prasad told rediff.com:

“I feel the break has actually pushed his career forward by 4-5 years. He is that sort of character who needs challenges, and he has accepted that challenge and gone through. He took a lovely break and he understood himself well and we have got back the Virat Kohli of the old. He actually needed a mental break more than anything else.”

Kohli scored 283 runs in three matches at an average of 141.50 and a strike rate of 137.38 against Sri Lanka. He smashed 113 off 87 balls in the first ODI in Guwahati and 166* off 110 balls in the third ODI in Thiruvananthapuram.

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“He should have taken a break long time back” - Prasad on Kohli

Elaborating on Kohli’s decision to take a break from cricket, Prasad opined that the batter should have done the same much before. The former India cricketer stated:

“He had a little bit of a tough time, but he kept on playing so that has piled up a lot. I felt he should have taken a break long time back, maybe soon after the (T20) World Cup (2021). Ever since he has taken the break before the Asia Cup (in 2022), we have got back the original Virat Kohli, whom we saw scoring lot of runs like in 2016.

Prasad asserted that the lean phase Kohli went through would only make him stronger as a cricketer and as an individual. He concluded:

"He is at his best now, he is in the right frame of mind. I am sure the tough times he has gone through in the last couple of years will only make him a better player and a stronger personality."

Kohli’s hundred in Thiruvananthapuram was his 46th in the ODI format. If he scores four more ODI tons, he would surpass Sachin Tendulkar’s record (49) and become the first player to register 50 centuries in the format.