India captain Virat Kohli on Thursday said he became a better person by playing Test cricket, calling the format a representation of life where one doesn’t have the option of quitting when the going gets tough.

Speaking to former England batsman and IPL teammate Kevin Pietersen during an Instagram Live, Kohli touched upon his passion for Test cricket, the worst phase of his career, how he turned into a vegan and how much he is filled with gratitude for being able to live a comfortable life during a global crisis like COVID-19.

Asked which is his favourite format, the Indian skipper emphatically replied: “Test cricket, Test cricket, Test cricket, Test cricket and Test cricket. I have said it five times.”

“Because it is the representation of life. Whether you get runs or not, you have to clap when others are batting. You have to go back to your room, get up and come the next day.

“You have to follow the routine whether you like it or not. It’s like life where you don’t have the option of not competing. Test cricket has made me a better person,” said world’s premier batsman, who has 27 hundreds and 7240 runs in 86 games.

Pietersen, a superb Test batsman himself, lauded Kohli for trashing the idea of four-day Tests which the ICC has floated to pull in more crowds.

“I was called for a debate and I told them that if Virat Kohli doesn’t want four day Tests, it’s not happening,” the former England captain said as Kohli had a hearty laugh.

His aggressive on-field demeanour has polarised opinions but the Indian skipper feels that for him, aggression is a form of enjoyment and then comes thinking about strategy.

“I don’t think I need to behave myself just because I am the captain. I need to be abe to enjoy and then comes strategy.”

But there is one guy he will never sledge in his life and that is AB de Villiers, for the simple reason that there is just too much of respect.

“IPL has done a lot in terms of respecting each other. I would never ever be able to do it (seldging) with AB. There is a friendship that lasts much longer than all these things.”

In fact, asked to choose two batsmen he enjoys batting with most, De Villiers is one of them along with former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

“I enjoy batting with those who understand my running between the wickets. You have to understand my calls. I have enjoyed batting with MS and with AB, we don’t even need to call as we look at each other and we know.”

Kohli also spoke about the Indian cricket team being one of the best fielding sides in the world and how he got that culture in the side.

“I was lucky to be in the centre of transition. I got to see what we were lacking and what the world was doing and we needed to catch up. So I was lucky to play with players who were on same page,” Kohli said.

The pair also went down memory lane to talk about their days playing together for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2009 and 2010.

“Right from 2009-10 we had amazing fun at RCB. We hit off well from Day 1. You came in as the big KP a star. We had a gun team with Kallis, Boucher, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid,” Kohli said.

RCB have reached three finals but have never won an IPL. Kohli, as captain of the side, said he feels they deserved a title but added he is not obsessed to win one with the franchise.

“We have reached three finals but haven’t won. We deserve to win a title. At RCB, we get talked about so much as we had stars. The more you think (about winning the IPL), the more it keeps running away from you. There have been added pressure lately but we need to just enjoy and not take pressure.”

As he had said earlier, he would like to play all formats till 2023 and then take a call, he reiterated that the 2014 tour of England was the lowest point of his career when he felt that failure was inevitable.

“It was a phase where I felt that there was no chance of me getting any runs. I would get up and go to a match knowing that I will not get runs. To go through that feeling that you will fail demolished me.

“I promised never to let that happen to me again,” he said with a message for all youngsters who want to be the next Virat Kohli.

The reason for the disaster in England was putting himself ahead of the team and being “obsessed about his own game and success” and not being able to shut out the voices who spoke about success in England being the ultimate Test of a cricketer.

“Don’t be self centred,” was his message to the youngsters.