If I work 120 per cent every day of my life, I am answerable to no one, says Virat Kohli

That Virat Kohli brings in an unabashed, infectious energy every time he steps on to the field is for everyone to see. But off it as well, he carries that baton with equal zeal.

At the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) annual awards ceremony here on Wednesday night, the India captain, dapper as ever in an unbuttoned black suit, clapped and cheered more than any other person in that room. Kohli flashed a smile at every award winner who walked past him sitting right at the front, and cracked up at every joke Farokh Engineer made on MAK Pataudi during his speech.

The 28-year-old Delhiite isn't apologetic about being that way, both on and off the field. He doesn't mind wearing emotions on his sleeves. Flaunting it, rather.

And despite having his fair share of detractors for having that attitude, Kohli just doesn't give a damn. And neither does he want his team to.

"All along in my career, there have been many people who had doubted the way I have gone about my game," Kohli said after receiving the Polly Umrigar award for BCCI's International Cricketer of the Year for the third time.

"Even now, there are doubters and haters all around. But one thing is for sure, that I have always believed in myself. I always believed in my heart that if I work 120 per cent every day of my life, I am answerable to no one.

"And I thank my team because they have bought into it, and we all play with that kind of attitude. We don't care about what happens outside that change room door. That's the attitude I've taken since late 2015, where I stopped putting pressure on myself. I told myself I'm working hard enough, I have the talent, I have the ability. I'm just going to go out and express myself," he added.

And, since 2015, he has not only expressed himself as a batsman, but also as a leader. He dared his troops to aim for the summit, and made them scale it, one Test umpteen times.

Kohli was at the forefront of that mission, accumulating runs – double hundreds, in fact – as effortlessly as Roger Federer's one-handed backhand. Not just in whites but in coloured clothing as well.

"It has been quite unbelievable, the last 10 to 12 months," Kohli said. "As cricketers you always have a breakthrough year for everyone. I think starting late 2015 to the end of 2016, probably I could recall when I get older as the breakthrough year in my career.

"All the hard work, all the training on a daily basis, all the sacrifices, came together nicely," he added.

The hard work included change in mindset, the training included slight change in technique, and the sacrifices included change in lifestyle and diet.

Once the three intertwined, it set Kohli free.

"I always wanted to be one of the top players in the world, for sure. So I understood what it would take for me to maintain my form in all three formats, not just one. It is very important in a transition phase to be available in all three formats and take your country forward," Kohli said.

Many may have been rattled by that daunting task, but captain Kohli relishes it.

'I take it as an opportunity. I don't take this as a job. It's a responsibility. I've been put in a place in which I need to do the right things, set the right examples and follow a certain path that the whole team believes in," he said.
And that path is one that every player in Kohli's squad wants to take to reach a collective destination. Even if it means their leader, even if ever so rarely, himself fumbles.

"At times when you don't do well is when the champion players in your side step up," Kohli said.

"Everyone has been able to do that. And that's why we are the top side in the world today. It's testimony to the kind of talent we have in the team and how players have stepped up in different occasions and helped the team pull through in difficult situations. I thank all my teammates for the support, for the trust and the effort," he said.

The feeling of his teammates must be likewise.