Virat Kohli on Sunday said he did not appreciate the crowd cheering India losing a wicket before he walked out to the middle during the first ODI against New Zealand in Vadodara.
“I’m aware of it, and honestly, I don’t feel good about it. I’ve seen the same thing happen with MS (Dhoni) as well (in the IPL). It’s not a great feeling for the guy walking back. I understand the crowd’s excitement, but I try to focus on what I need to do and not think too much about it,” Kohli said during the post-match presentation.
The response came after fans could be heard cheering the wicket of Rohit Sharma, who fell on 26, anticipating Kohli’s entry as India attempted to overhaul New Zealand’s 300 runs.
The 37-year-old struck a 91-ball 93 to steer India to a four-wicket win. However, he fell agonisingly short of a record-extending 54th century in the format. Had he scored seven more, it would have been his 25th ton in a successful chase for India.
“If I am being brutally honest, I’m not thinking about milestones at all. If we were batting first, I probably would’ve gone harder. But in a chase, with a total on the board, I had to play the situation. The only thing on my mind was getting the team into a position where we could win comfortably,” Kohli said.
The veteran also opened up about his reinvigorated approach at the top of the order, that has seen him score 50 or more runs in each of his last six ODIs.
“The basic idea is I bat at number three, if the situation is tricky, I back myself to counter-attack rather than just wait around. Any ball can have your name on it, so there’s no point being passive.
“At the same time, you don’t play outrageous shots – you stick to your strengths. Today, when I walked in after Rohit got out, I felt if I pushed hard in the first 20 balls, we could put the opposition on the back foot. That ended up making the difference.
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