Virat Kohli is known for his animated celebrations on the field. In comparison, his peer and India captain Rohit Sharma is normally stoic.
However, even Rohit couldn’t help himself celebrating with gusto as he lifted Kohli after India defeated Pakistan in their group stage meeting of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Melbourne.
Kohli played what has been termed as the greatest individual innings in the format’s history to guide his team to a thrilling last-ball win that led to outpouring of emotions from the Indian camp.
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Even Kohli was taken by surprise watching Rohit’s reaction.
“I’ve played with Rohit for a long period of time and I have not seen him express so much in many moments. So I think, it was a natural reaction for everyone including mine,” Kohli said on Star Sports.
Kohli is perhaps the greatest Indian batter of his era and in a cricket-mad nation, naturally, he’s continuous to be the centre of attention.
Kohli though knows how to stay away from the distractions. “I always wanted to keep my emotions and feelings in control. It is a very important part of my game. So, I keep that awareness ahead of the match,” Kohli said.
Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf were part of the Pakistan pace attack that Kohli successfully negotiated to take India over the line on that magical night in Melbourne.
“There was no extra preparation to face them because over the years you are used to 140, 145, 150 kmph bowling,” Kohli recalled.
“The only thing you need to do is to get into a mental space and get ready for the challenge,” he added.
India were handed a 10-wicket thrashing by Pakistan in a group match of the 2021 T20 World Cup but Kohli, who scored a half-century in that match too, wasn’t thinking about revenge.
“The defeat against Pakistan in 2021 never came to my mind (in 2022). Considering the big human error factor involved in sport, there is no guarantee that on a given day you will win,” he said.
“We were winning against Pakistan all those years but on that day, they outplayed us. There’s no shame in accepting that. It was a good reality check for everyone. We can’t play a match thinking we have to avenge a defeat in the past,” he added,” he added.
At the Asia Cup in 2021, Kohli ended his nearly two-year-long century drought with a maiden T20I century and reckons that knock to have put him in a better mental space.
“If I was not playing well, then probably, I would have been a bit uneasy. But I scored my first T20I hundred in the Asia Cup and that brought me back into a contented space. I was not feeling desperate or nervous. I was just happy that I was able to play at such a big occasion once more,” he said.
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