Virat Kohli: India’s Man For All Seasons

Virat Kohli speaks about his perfect night at the Eden Gardens that derailed Pakistan.

Eden Gardens screamed to its hilt twice on Saturday night. Once when Sachin Tendulkar walked out to the middle for a little felicitation ceremony before the start of play, and next when Virat Kohli came in to bat, scored a match-winning half century and pointed towards the balcony to bow to the master.

Eden had erupted, Eden had gone bonkers. A legend in the stands and a legend in the making had just shared pleasantries through a mere eye contact. A bow from the pitch, a wave from the stands and later a heartening smile between the two summed up the story of the night at Kolkata that was called India versus Pakistan.

Seldom did Eden go quiet, very rarely Eden would get into a sob, but Virat would be their Man Friday. He brought those smiles back with his clever stroke-play, supple wrists and smooth footwork to rekindle a belief time and again that he was there; there to conquer and to stand tall. Virat scored an unbeaten 55, 34 of them were shots of authority towards the boundary ropes and the rest were needled into gaps with surgical precision. The result; India recorded their fifth win against Pakistan in T20 World Cups and bounced back into the competition after a loss in the first game.

It was that man again, who had done the job for India, who had yet again stood right till the end to take his team through. The run of emotions, the vigour to get back strong after an initial blip and the honour of performing in front of his cricketing idol, man of the moment Virat Kohli says it all in a chat with BCCI.TV.

As a team, you couldn’t have asked for a better comeback, a better stage and a better run-chase. How eager were you to put that loss behind and make a telling statement in this game?

Absolutely! You put it right. Last game, I was really disappointed with myself. I got out on 25 (23), I wanted to win the game for the team but that is how cricket goes sometimes. I knew if I had batted till 40-45 runs, we could have pulled that game out of trouble and we could have won that one as well. It doesn’t happen every time.

I was really disappointed after that loss. I went back to the room and thought about what needs to be done. Tonight, we were in a similar situation in this game. We were 23/3 chasing a big score in 18 overs against a strong Pakistan bowling attack. But such games and situations just improve you as a cricketer and I look forward to challenges like these.

You’ve spoken about your mindset in the past, but how is the batsman in you able to do it time and again? 

It is very important to assess the field and understand how much the ball is turning and gripping from the surface. Accordingly you pick out bowlers, where they are trying to bowl at you and try to get into the head of the bowler and make him bowl where you want him to bowl. That is the key. That is where intent counts.

If you are showing the bowler that you are coming towards him, then it is a different mindset for him rather than making him feel that you are guessing what is going to happen. It is just that sort of mindset that I take in, and it helps me to be on top of those pressure situations. It is coming off nicely at the moment, I just like to keep things simple and continue with the same.

What was your thought process before walking out to bat tonight during the run-chase? How would you put today’s innings into perspective?

I told myself in the change room that I am going to back myself to play good cricketing shots. That is something that we learn as kids and there is no reason why you cannot go and execute good cricketing shots. At the end of the day you are playing cricket and not trying to slog the ball. I was confident that I needed to play with a straight bat so that the strike keeps rotating. That mindset didn’t change anytime in the innings because I didn’t go in with a different mindset.

I went in with the same mindset to bat and stuck to it throughout. This works for me in all situations. I remain pretty calm. Luckily my heart rate was low (smiles) when we lost three wickets, it could have shot up as it was a big game and a full stadium at the Eden Gardens. I am just grateful I was able to do it.

Talking about the big occasion, we saw you bow to Sachin Tendulkar in the stands. It would have been special to perform in front of your cricketing idol.

I can’t express the feeling. My brother is here as well and Sachin Tendulkar was up there in the stands. I have seen Sachin paaji do that for India for years together and seen how people shout for him. I have gotten a chance to do it in front of him and he is celebrating. I cannot explain that feeling as a youngster who has grown up playing cricket because of him. To be able to do it in front of him and give him happiness; I am very grateful for it and it is a very emotional moment.

Two more games to go; this win should definitely boost confidence levels in the team, isn’t it?

I think this is a perfect catalyst for us going forward into this tournament. You have to stay positive, no matter what. That is the name of the game in international cricket. There is nothing you can do about a bad loss, but what you have to do is learn from it, and come out positive. When you are sitting in that room, you want to be the guy that makes the difference in the game and win the game for the team single-handedly. If all eleven guys can think like that, then the team is in a good space.

© Anand Subramaniam, BCCI

Virat Kohli In Action During The India vs Pakistan ICC World Twenty20 Match At Eden Gardens In Kolkata

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Virat Kohli Sweating It Out Ahead Of The India vs Pakistan ICC World Twenty20 Match At Eden Gardens In Kolkata

© Associated Sources

Virat Kohli In Action During The India vs Pakistan Match In Micromax Asia Cup T20

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Suresh Raina Started Playing More Freely In Virat’s Company: Sunil Gavaskar

Calcutta: Accurate bowling and intelligent batting were highlights of India’s seven-wicket victory over Pakistan in their World T20 opener, in Mirpur, on Friday. But more than that, Sunil Gavaskar gave credit to captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the good show.

“Dhoni was on top of his game … The bowling changes that he made were definitely by design and he was in control. He looks refreshed after the break that he had. It can happen… Captaincy can take a lot out of you, and if you get a break, you come back that much better. I think we are seeing signs of that,” Gavaskar said during a programme in a television channel.

Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina ensured that India chased the target without much trouble. The former India captain praised both. “Virat has been great. He has played well all over the world. Every team that he has played against, he has scored big runs.

He is a positive player and he has a positive effect on the player at the other end. He makes the other player play more freely. He is also electric between the wickets and makes the other person run fast as well,” Gavaskar said.

“The other person with him today was Raina, who too, like Virat, thrives on confidence. Even through Raina came in before Virat, he started playing more freely in Virat’s company and eventually it was a cakewalk,” he added.

Gavaskar, however, said it is too early to decide whether Raina has changed his approach towards playing short-pitched deliveries.

“I don’t think there is a huge change in Raina’s approach towards short bowling because, here in Dhaka, short-pitched stuff doesn’t go over the shoulders.

“So there’s nothing as such to suggest that he has improved approach towards short-pitched balls. We will have to wait till he goes somewhere where the ball bounces over the shoulder,” he said.

Gavaskar was not very happy with India’s death bowling. “I don’t think there’s been a great improvement in India’s death bowling. Even today, Mohammed Shami conceded the most expensive over in the death… The final over of the innings.

“There are still a lot of areas that need to be addressed. They are still bowling length balls, which are being carted away for runs. They are not trying the yorkers often… I think, there’s a fair bit to go,” he said.

Leggie Amit Mishra, however, earned praise. “I am not at all surprised by Mishra’s impressive performance in only his second T20 International.

“As a leg-spinner, once you realise that the captain has faith in you and is going to give you a long spell and the field you want, you start bowling well.

“One can say that he should have played more than two T20s. But then again, India have played hardly two T20s in the last one year, and one of them has been overseas.

And we know that overseas, India prefer three seamers and two spinners, who are Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, because they are also handy with the bat,” he said.

© ABP News