What was Virat Kohli's mantra during Australia tour in 2014-15?

The Virat Kohli-Gautam Gambhir interview uploaded by BCCI has taken the internet by storm as the Indian greats shared insights on their careers, including their highs and lows. The purpose of the video was to show the other side of the Kohli-Gambhir duo who are known to be arch-rivals on the field. However, keeping the drama aside, the Delhi Boys showed perfect bonding with each other by sharing their journey on the cricket field.

Reminiscing about the Australia series 2014-15, Gambhir shared an interesting fact about Kohli's mantra behind scoring runs in the series. The conversation started with Kohli asking the Indian Cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir about his mindset during the India-Australia series, "Let's talk about a few moments in the India-Australia series. The most special one will be the double hundred in our home. I won't talk about the elbow because I guess I know why the elbow would have happened. I want to talk about the mindset of the innings. What keeps you grounded and anchored?"

On the other hand, Gambhir's answer revealed Kohli's mantra of success in that particular series. The head coach said, "Great question. Instead of talking about me, I remember when you had that bumper series in Australia, where you scored heaps and heaps of runs, you were telling me that you kept saying 'Om Namah Shivay' before every delivery. And that got you in that zone. For me, that's exactly what happened when I played in Napier. I batted for 2-and-half days."

The series proved to be a turning point in Kohli's life as MS Dhoni passed on the baton to him midway and he had to take the charge. Against Australia, Kohli scored 692 runs in the four Tests, including four hundred. India's fighting spirit was quite visible even though India lost the series 2-0. 

Also Read:Gautam Gambhir speaks highly of Virat Kohli's captaincy in special video released by BCCI

It was like completely zoned out: Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir went back in time and remembered the New Zealand series in 2009, where he didn't talk for two and half days and was constantly chanting Hanuman Chalisa, which was his mantra. Even during the game, he wasn't communicating with the batters present on the ground and kept on nodding.

The head coach mentioned being zoned out completely as his focus was entirely on the game, and he didn't have the urge to talk to anyone. That gave him a lot of confidence to bat in the series. He scored 137 from 436 deliveries in the final innings in Napier where India won the game. 

"I realised that I did not say a word. All I did between overs was nod and play, and when I got back, I put on Hanuman Chalisa and listened to it. For those two-and-half-days, it was like completely zoned out," added Gambhir.