New Delhi: India’s star batsman Virat Kohli has admitted that not making any concrete contribution to the team for a long time was “constantly bothering” him. In a conversation with Indian coach Rahul Dravid, he said that he had let expectations get the better of him in his desperation to score a big century in Tests. Kohli scored 186 in the fourth Test against Australia to end a Test century drought of over three years. This was his 28th Test career while overall 75th international century. He said, ‘To be honest, I allowed trouble to dominate me because of my shortcomings.’ He said, ‘The desperation to get to the three-figure mark in cricket is something that can get the better of you as a batsman.
To some extent, I let this happen to me. But the flip side is that I am not a player who is happy with 40-45 runs. I take great pride in performing for the team. Virat Kohli further said, ‘When I am batting at 40, I know that I can score 150 runs. But this not happening was constantly troubling me. When Dravid asked him how difficult it was to deal with these adverse times, Kohli replied, “If I am honest, it becomes a bit difficult because as soon as you step out of the hotel room, the people outside From the guy in the lift to the bus driver, everyone is saying ‘we want a hundred from your bat’. Kohli said, ‘So it goes on in your mind, but the advantage of playing for so long is that you learn to deal with such difficult situations.’ Kohli batted for almost eight and a half hours and 365 balls during his century against Australia. During this, while showing restraint, he did not hit any four in 162 consecutive balls. He hit his fifth four on the 89th ball while the sixth four came on the 251st ball of his innings. In this conversation, Dravid said that he too was looking forward to see a big century from the former skipper and it paid off in the end as Kohli did his best. Rahul Dravid said, ‘I have seen him as a player. I have enjoyed his hundreds with the bat (T20 Internationals and ODIs) in the last 15-16 months since I got the job of coaching as well as watching many of his hundreds on television. I too couldn’t wait to enjoy his Test century from the dressing room. ,
The Indian coach further mentioned this in his statement and said, ‘It was a great feeling to enjoy this Test century of yours. It was an excellent innings. You made me wait for this for a long time but it was a privilege to see the way you progressed the innings. Kohli’s previous century before this Test came in November 2019 in a day-night Test match against Bangladesh. Kohli said that he never plays with the thought of achievement. He said, ‘Many people ask me,’ how do you score so many hundreds’. I always say that my aim is to bat as long as possible for the team and a century is achieved only when this goal is achieved. Virat Kohli: Virat Kohli and the cover drive… Sachin’s ‘241 Sydney’ master class shown in AhmedabadIND vs AUS: Now Akshar Patel will not miss going close to century, got special tips from Gavaskar who scored 34 centuries
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