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Editor
Having become the new poster boy of Indian cricket with his sizzling performances in the last few months, Virat Kohli now wants to graduate to the next level. A stage for which the 22-year-old, according to former India coach Gary Kirsten, is ready. Having cut his teeth in international cricket in 2008, Kohli has already played 54 ODIs and three T20 Internationals, and he now wants to don the Test cap.
"My main aim since childhood is Test cricket. It depends on when I get a chance, but my ultimate target is to play Tests," said a visibly-tired Kohli at a promotional event at a five-star hotel on Wednesday. Kohli seemed a bit low too, which is understandable considering how his team, the Royal Challengers Bangalore, lost the first qualifier from a strong position largely due to mediocre bowling in the slog overs, wasting his brilliant 44-ball unbeaten 70.
"It was disappointing to be on the losing side especially when you have put in efforts while batting when your team needed it most. I think we shouldn't have bowled the balls that we bowled in the last few overs," Kohli rued, before collecting his thoughts and saying: "We need to move on now and focus on our next match."
Kohli however sympathized with his bowlers. "We have bowled well in the death. This was one match where we didn't do well. You can have an one-off day in T20 cricket and you can't bowl consistently all the time. We would like to rectify that and move forward."
The Royal Challengers do need to move on quickly from this demoralizing defeat for on Friday, they play Mumbai Indians. Having scored 514 runs in 14 games @51.40, with four fifties, Kohli has been outstanding in the IPL this time, only to be overshadowed by Chris Gayle. The last six months, in fact, have seen Kohli score consistently in all formats. Has there been a change of mindset or approach? "I have always tried to accept more responsibility. When you want to win a game for your country, your thinking changes completely rather than when you think about playing a supporting role and are content with small contributions. That makes you casual.
"You should think about playing a match-winning innings and winning the match for your team rather than thinking that there are seniors who are more experienced than you. This is a big difference that I have seen in IPL. You need to have a match-winning attitude," said the youngster, who still sports an arm that brandishes more tattoos than any Indian cricketer you would see, but who seems to have moved on from the days of being perceived as someone who is talented, but maybe, not focused.
Kohli, who cherishes his hundred on World Cup debut against Bangladesh, has been playing non-stop cricket for a while now. No fatigue issues for him. "I want to play as much cricket as possible. If you have played for long, you feel you need rest at some point. The Indian team plays the most amount of cricket in the world. It is not a bad thing for seniors to take rest.
"You need to manage the schedule according to each series and keep the players fit as well. You just can't stress your body and worry about what people will think if you take rest. It's a personal decision," felt Kohli.
At the moment, he just doesn't want to stop. Kohli knows that somewhere in the near future, lies a maiden Test cap.
"My main aim since childhood is Test cricket. It depends on when I get a chance, but my ultimate target is to play Tests," said a visibly-tired Kohli at a promotional event at a five-star hotel on Wednesday. Kohli seemed a bit low too, which is understandable considering how his team, the Royal Challengers Bangalore, lost the first qualifier from a strong position largely due to mediocre bowling in the slog overs, wasting his brilliant 44-ball unbeaten 70.
"It was disappointing to be on the losing side especially when you have put in efforts while batting when your team needed it most. I think we shouldn't have bowled the balls that we bowled in the last few overs," Kohli rued, before collecting his thoughts and saying: "We need to move on now and focus on our next match."
Kohli however sympathized with his bowlers. "We have bowled well in the death. This was one match where we didn't do well. You can have an one-off day in T20 cricket and you can't bowl consistently all the time. We would like to rectify that and move forward."
The Royal Challengers do need to move on quickly from this demoralizing defeat for on Friday, they play Mumbai Indians. Having scored 514 runs in 14 games @51.40, with four fifties, Kohli has been outstanding in the IPL this time, only to be overshadowed by Chris Gayle. The last six months, in fact, have seen Kohli score consistently in all formats. Has there been a change of mindset or approach? "I have always tried to accept more responsibility. When you want to win a game for your country, your thinking changes completely rather than when you think about playing a supporting role and are content with small contributions. That makes you casual.
"You should think about playing a match-winning innings and winning the match for your team rather than thinking that there are seniors who are more experienced than you. This is a big difference that I have seen in IPL. You need to have a match-winning attitude," said the youngster, who still sports an arm that brandishes more tattoos than any Indian cricketer you would see, but who seems to have moved on from the days of being perceived as someone who is talented, but maybe, not focused.
Kohli, who cherishes his hundred on World Cup debut against Bangladesh, has been playing non-stop cricket for a while now. No fatigue issues for him. "I want to play as much cricket as possible. If you have played for long, you feel you need rest at some point. The Indian team plays the most amount of cricket in the world. It is not a bad thing for seniors to take rest.
"You need to manage the schedule according to each series and keep the players fit as well. You just can't stress your body and worry about what people will think if you take rest. It's a personal decision," felt Kohli.
At the moment, he just doesn't want to stop. Kohli knows that somewhere in the near future, lies a maiden Test cap.
1 comments:
Most wonderfull Article, Thanks for sharing!
How to Meet Virat Kohli Personally and Face to Face
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