"I was literally drained and didn’t get out of room" - Virat Kohli opens up on the biggest heartbreak of his career
Team India's star batter Virat Kohli recently stated that there have been just two heartbreaks so far in his cricketing career. He mentioned that the Men in Blue's seven-wicket loss to West Indies at the 2016 T20 World Cup was one of them.
India failed to defend a 193-run target in the knockout fixture. Recalling the loss, Kohli disclosed that he was dejected with the result and did not step out of his hotel room the following day.
Speaking to Jio Cinema, he said:
"There have been just two heartbreaks in my career, and both were in 2016. One was the T20 World Cup. I was in a space where I thought that I could do anything. The, the no-balls and everything, that took me a lot of time to get over. I was literally drained and didn't get out of my room the next day."
Virat Kohli was in the form of his life at the 2016 T20 World Cup. He amassed 273 runs across five outings at a strike rate of 146.77 and was the Player of the Tournament at the ICC event.
He was India's top performer in their semi-final loss to West Indies as well, scoring an unbeaten 89 with the bat and also picking up one wicket.
"We felt like that was written in the stars" - Virat Kohli on RCB's IPL 2016 campaign
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) came close to winning their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL). Following an underwhelming start, they won five matches on the trot to book final berth.
However, their hopes came crashing down in the summit clash as they suffered an eight-run loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Picking RCB's final defeat in 2016 as the other heartbreak of his career, Virat Kohli said:
"Then, when we lost the IPL final here (M. Chinnaswamy Stadium). We felt like that was written in the stars, from how we made it to the final. Also, the final was at our home ground. We were chasing 200-odd runs and were over 100 runs in nine overs with no loss. When AB (de Villiers) got out, we needed 68 off 42 balls with eight wickets in hand. It's like how did we lose that game?"
Kohli recalled how when RCB returned to their hotel following the IPL 2016 final, arrangements were already made for an after-party. He suggested that the players were in no mood to celebrate and remained in their rooms, skipping the party.
"The most heartbreaking part was when we reached our team hotel, the basement was completely set up for an after-party. Everything was there, and there were just four people sitting. We were so heartbroken that nobody even came down." he added.
Virat Kohli enjoyed an imperious run in IPL 2016. He scored 973 runs from 16 games, which remains the most number of runs scored by a batter in a single edition.