India’s Test cricket captain Virat Kohli says he appreciates all the attention and the almost god-like following he gets in India, but admits it has made a huge difference to his personal life.
"See, right now, thinking of going out of the house to do something, even to have a meal is like a mission. And, you know, you seriously cannot think of doing it especially in the country. You cannot think of doing anything without actually planning things, which is not who I am, which is not the way I function," he told CNN's 'Talk Asia'.
“Initially it used to irritate me, but now I've come to terms with the fact that ‘fine, if I have to stay in the house, I have to stay in the house’," he added.
Speaking about the difficulty he faces over spending time with friends at a restaurant or going for a movie, Kohli said: “It's difficult. As I said, you need to choose your battles. I need to choose the times to hang out or places to hang out. But, still, as I said, it takes a lot of planning and it takes a lot of thought to what you want to do, how you want to do it, which becomes normal things after a while; but initially it's very difficult."