Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma have often been admired for the understanding and companionship they share. However, like any couple, they have had their share of challenges. In an earlier interaction with fans, the two opened up about dealing with outside pressures, the trust they built over the years and the promise that helped them become “true partners” in their relationship.Virat and Anushka began dating in 2013 and got married in an intimate ceremony in Italy in 2017. Their relationship often attracted public attention, with the couple facing criticism and speculation from those who questioned their compatibility. During a live chat in 2020, Anushka spoke about how they learnt to distinguish between issues within their relationship and those created by external circumstances.She said, “We have had a lot of challenges but what we both realised that those challenges were not coming from us. They were just external challenges… Issues outside of our relationship. Our companionship was strong that it always stood up against it, and we didn’t have to try hard to do that.” Anushka added that they had made a promise to each other that they would never allow a third thing to get in between . “We have that kind of trust and faith in each other,” she added.Virat, too, recalled how their individual success and public profiles brought their relationship under scrutiny. He said, “I think there is a lot of negativity around as well, where people can’t just accept that how two people can just be together and be happy. ‘This doesn’t look real,’ they say.” He described this as one of the biggest challenges they had faced together, adding, “They start judging you and they try to bring that negativity to your life. So I think that’s been our challenge: to keep that away, to keep believing in love, to keep believing in our own journey together, and now we have become so strong together in neglecting those negative energies that those things have stopped bothering us now.”For Virat, the way forward was to live fearlessly and remain honest with each other. “If we are walking on the right path together, we are honest with each other, we are helping one another, we feel there is no need to entertain any kind of outside force into this space that we have,” he said.The couple also spoke about the ways in which they have influenced each other. Virat said he was “grateful” for the “amount of strength and clarity that Anushka has given me”, explaining that being with her had introduced him to a different perspective on life. “She has certainly helped me in every moment since the time we have been together,” he said.Anushka, meanwhile, remembered how naturally they connected when they first started dating. She said, “hit it off very easily because we were very real with one another from the beginning. There was no farce at all. There was no pretense because I was someone who was, ‘What you see is what you get’ and he was exactly like that. I thought it was really rare that we found each other.”She also spoke about the commitment they made to keep growing as individuals while building a life together. “I will work on myself and he will do the same so we continue on this journey as true partners and that’s how we are able to have so much fun together and we can be enough for one another.” Virat added, “We both complete each other through every situation and I think that’s the biggest essence of our teamwork.”Virat and Anushka are set to celebrate their eighth wedding anniversary. They are parents to daughter Vamika and son Akaay.
