Emotional Virat Kohli reacts for first time post India's World Cup exit, speaks about failures and setbacks

Two weeks have passed since India's heartbreak at the World Cup when they were ousted by New Zealand. The players, however, are now geared up for their next assignment and the selectors have already announced the different squads to tour West Indies. Captain Virat Kohli too is up and about and has his eyes fixed on the next challenges.

Yes, the talk of the semi-final heartbreak does come into the picture, but the skipper believes that he has only learnt from the failures and setbacks right through his life. "I have learnt most in my life from failures and setbacks. The worst setbacks have not only motivated me but also improved me as a person, made me understand the importance of those times more than the success. It makes you sit down and think about what you need to do now, build a roadmap for yourself," the captain told TOI in an interview.

He also said that such setbacks help in building character because you know that you have not made too many mistakes to be ousted. "When your belief is right up there and everyone's playing so well, and suddenly, you know, you've been outplayed. It's very difficult to digest because you know you didn't make many mistakes to be knocked out," he further added.

Spoke to the team after the semi-final loss

He also revealed that after the loss he spoke to the players and tried to get the point across that they should be proud of the way they performed and progressed in the tournament. The skipper did not want his players to take away the credit from themselves and put undue pressure. 

The selectors have named a few young players in the squad and the captain believes that the talent coming through the ranks is very exciting. He said that the confidence levels among these young players are amazing.

"They are amazing. The level of confidence that they have is amazing to see. As I have mentioned so many times before, at 19-20, we were not even half the players these guys are. Skills have developed because of exposure to tournaments like the IPL. It's the best thing that can happen to a cricketer," the captain said.

Kohli also admitted that he made a lot of mistakes early in his career and had to pull back and put his focus on the right track to achieve success and this is something, he keeps telling the younger players not to repeat the same mistakes.