Virat Kohli has admitted that his ‘ego’ got the better of him as he struggled to get going during the recent T20 World Cup where India became the champions. Kohli wasn’t at his usual best as he kept getting out for low scores as even as fellow opener and team captain Rohit Sharma kept setting the pace with a series of impressive performances.
Kohli opened up on his struggles during an interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had invited India’s world cup winning squad at his official residence on Thursday morning.
“First of all, thank you so much for inviting us,” Kohli said. “This day (T20 World Cup final) will always stay with me because during the entire tournament, I wasn’t able to contribute to the level as I wanted to (for the team).
He continued, “There was a point when I told Rahul bhai that I am not doing justice to myself and the team so far. He replied ‘when the situation demands, I am confident you will perform’. So the kind of tournament I had, I wasn’t confident that I will be able to bat the way I wanted to during the final.”
Kohli revealed the chat he had with Rohit during the final of the T20 World Cup against South Africa after he clattered three boundaries in the very first over of the match, bowled by Marco Jansen.
So when I struck three fours in four deliveries so I told Rohit that ‘What a game this is! One day you feel like not being able to score a single run and then there’s another when everything starts working out. So, when we lost three wickets, I had to surrender myself to the situation. I was only focused on what’s important for the team,” Kohli recalled.
“I felt that I have been pushed into that zone and I can’t explain the reason behind it. Later, I realised, what’s destined will happen. So the manner in which we won the match, how it turned around. We can’t explain what was going through our minds. At one point we had lost hope then Hardik took that wicket (of Heinrich Klaasen). Then we got back into the groove with each delivery. I am happy to have contributed at such a big occasion. I will never forget this,” he added.
PM Modi then asked Kohli about the reaction of his family.