India batting stalwart Virat Kohli stated on Sunday that his incredible journey thus far has been nothing short of a dream come true because he is able to “give so much happiness and smile to so many people” through his sport.
During the first ODI against New Zealand in Vadodara, the 37-year-old Kohli achieved yet another milestone: he became the second most prolific scorer after Sachin Tendulkar and the fastest player to reach 28,000 runs across formats in international cricket.
By striking a four off New Zealand leg-spinner Adithya Ashok in his 624th innings, Kohli reached the milestone. Only the third member of the 28000-run club, Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara, achieved the milestone in his 666th innings, while Tendulkar did so in his 644th.
“Honestly, if I look back at my whole journey, it’s nothing short of a dream come true. I’ve always known my abilities, when I came in and I had to work for a lot more to get to the place I am today. God has blessed me with way too much for me to complain about anything. So I feel nothing but gratitude. I always look back at my whole journey with a lot of grace and a lot of gratitude in my heart and I feel I feel proud about it,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Everywhere he goes and plays, cricket fans adore Kohli, who was awarded player of the match for the 45th time in his career.
“I feel grateful that I’ve been put in this position. It’s a blessing to be honest. You can give so much happiness to so many people by just doing what you love to do, which is play the sport you’ve always loved as a child. What more can I ask for I’m literally living my dream and making people happy and see smiling faces.”
When asked about Sunday’s 91-ball 93 effort that helped India win, Kohli responded, “If I’m being brutally honest the way I’m playing right now, I’m not thinking about the milestones at all. Honestly, if we were batting first today, I would have probably gone harder. Because there was a total on the board, I had to kind of buckle down and play the situation. I was feeling like I want to hit more boundaries.”
When asked if, in contrast to previously in his career, he was becoming more aggressive early in his innings, Kohli responded, “The basic idea is I batted at number three, so if the situation is a bit tricky, I backed myself to counter-attack now rather than just trying to play the situation in.”
“Because some ball has your name on it. So there’s no point waiting around for too long But at the same time you don’t play outrageous shots, you still stick to your strengths. But you back yourself enough to put the opposition on the back foot and that’s exactly what happened today when I walked in.”
“I just felt like if I push hard now in the first 20 balls, then we can probably string in a partnership straight after a wicket like Rohit’s, where the opposition is gonna go on the back foot and that actually ended up being the difference in the game.”
When Rohit Sharma’s wicket fell, Kohli entered to bat and the crowd erupted in applause as the opener made his way back to the dressing room.
When asked if he was a little uneasy about the batter returning, he responded, “I think it’s like different timing happens at different games, I am not really aware of it.”
“I honestly don’t feel good about it if I have to be honest. Same thing happens with MS. I’ve seen a lot as well. I don’t think that it’s a good feeling for the guy going out. So I do feel bad about it. I also understand the crowd, gets excited and they get happy. So I guess it’s part of the game and I try to just focus on what I need to do and not think so much before I go to bat.”
India captain Shubman Gill admitted that Kohli is currently making batting appear simple.
“It’s tough to start on these pitches. Tough to replicate what he does. Hope he keeps piling on runs. Always feels great to chip in, especially when you’re chasing. Staying in the present is most important, especially for athletes. That’s what I try to do.”
