5 mantras for Virat Kohli's success in England

Life is made up of ups and downs. This universal fact is applicable to all and sundry. Virat, being a human is no exception. He would never have dreamt of his downfall in the 2014 England tour. The absolute nightmarish tour where he scored only 139 runs in 10 test innings left him reeling. The media, adding insult to injury, just kept criticizing him over and over again.

But he came back roaring to sit atop all international rankings. He lifted his average over 50 across all three formats to set the record that no one has ever achieved. He is only behind four others in terms of lifetime centuries in International cricket.

Personal records apart, he led India to No.1 ranking across formats. There's no doubt Virat has been the perfect successor to captain MS Dhoni. Virat then and Virat now are poles apart. His attitude, aggression and passion make him one of the best in world cricket.

Now in 2018, he is on the verge of facing his nightmare yet again. Sure he is stronger than ever before but he needs to stay cautioned over the probabilities of things going awry. Here are some simple yet crucial mantras for his inevitable success in England.

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5. Staying true to his character

Some have suggested him to tone down his aggression in order to be a better captain and player. But that doesn't matter as his own teammates have vouched for something totally different.

According to them, Virat's aggression rubs off on them eventually inspiring them to perform better. In the field, you can see bowlers truly celebrating every wicket with Virat running to them.

In a recent interview on the What The Duck show, Ashwin explained how Virat's taunting from non-striker end helped him hit back to back boundaries against Rabada even when he was scared to even face him. These give Virat ample reasons not to change his attitude.

All these aside, Virat himself admits that aggression is what gets the most out of him. In order to succeed, he needs to keep his aggression intact without any second thought.

4. Playing his natural game

This tour is not the end of the world for Virat. He has proved why he is a modern day great by scoring all around the world. Even if he fails this time around, it will take nothing away from him. He needs to keep it in mind that he is playing just another game of cricket.

All the excitement, exaggeration, the hype has been made by the media to raise the heat. His numbers speak for him and the world knows who he is.

With these in mind, Virat needs to play his natural game every time he steps inside the ground to bat.

3. Ignoring critics

Sshhhhhh...

In the name of constructive criticism, people lash out at Virat. Believe me, there is no lack of armchair critics who type just about anything behind the screen. If any article mentions Virat's failure, you will always find vulgar comments down below in the comment section.

The crab mentality is extremely prevalent in the human race. Browse the internet a little more and you will find the so-called legends challenging Virat to prove himself in England. One must have incredible patience to get over the barrage of criticism that his 2014 run-drought brought. He is a hero already!

The message is very clear here. Virat needs to play because he loves to play not because he needs to prove to anyone else. Just let 'em talk.

2. Not trying too hard

Look back but not too hard

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Everything else aside, this thing is paramount to Virat's success in England. It is very likely that Virat is going to erase his past misery and improve his English record.

There is the hunger and desperation but he must not overdo it. The legend has it that everytime a player tried too hard, he failed. He needs to stay cool inside and bat out any bowler he comes across.

Keeping it all simple, he simply needs to play the way has been playing over the years without any exaggeration.

1. Being himself

The funny side of Virat.

His first name 'Virat' means 'huge' in Hindi. Have to admit that everything he has achieved so far has been Virat. He is super aggressive on the field and an amazing human being off the field.

Even an emotional Michael Clarke agreed with this when Virat attended Phil's funeral. He has won hearts of all except for some attitude freaks. But that barely matters. He has taken Indian cricket to new heights and has a bright future up ahead.

In the final analysis, he just needs to be himself in England to show the world who he is!