Anushka is an inspiration, sacrifices made by her massive: Virat Kohli

Kohli added that apart from Sharma, it was only MS Dhoni who had reached out to Kohli during his tough phase

The sacrifices made by Anushka Sharma have been massive, and she has been a big inspiration, Indian cricketer Virat Kohli said in a recent podcast of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Sharma and Kohli married in December 2017.

"The way things have been in the past two years, we have had our child and, as a mother, the sacrifices that she made have been massive. Looking at her, I realised whatever problems I had were nothing. As far as expectations are concerned, as long as your family loves you for who you are, you don't expect much because that is the basic requirement," Kohli said.

"When you look for inspiration, you start from home and, obviously, Anushka has been a big inspiration for me. My life had a completely different perspective. When you fall in love with a person, you start processing those changes within you as well. Her outlook towards life was different and it urged me to change for the better and become more accepting of things," he added.

Kohli was speaking in the first episode of the 10-episode RCB Podcast Season 2.

He added that apart from Sharma, only MS Dhoni had reached out to Kohli during his tough phase.

"What is interesting is that throughout this phase apart from Anushka, who has been the biggest source of strength for me because she has been with me throughout this whole time and she has seen me very closely as to how have I felt, things that I have gone through, the kind of things that have happened…the only person who, apart from my childhood coach and family…genuinely reached out to me has been MS Dhoni," he said.

He also added that he and Dhoni have been through similar situations in life.

"He has experienced what I have experienced right now. So, it is only out of the experience, and feeling those feelings at that moment is the only way you can be truly compassionate and understanding towards another individual who is going through the same thing," Kohli said.

Kohli has been with the RCB since 2008 and became the team's captain in 2011 until he stepped away from the role in 2021. Kohli also detailed his stint as India and RCB captain, delinking himself from captaincy to migrate to a senior player's role and his strong urge to preserve the environment.