"Played it like it was his fifth match" - Dinesh Karthik on Virat Kohli's 500th international outing
Dinesh Karthik recently stated that Team India's star batter Virat Kohli showed a lot of hunger on Day 1 of the ongoing second Test against the West Indies at Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain.
Kohli is currently playing his 500th match in international cricket. Karthik pointed out that the former Indian skipper worked very hard on his runs, grinding in conditions where playing strokes freely wasn't easy.
Assessing Virat Kohli's batting, here's what Karthik said on Cricbuzz:
"We can all say about the lovely shots that he (Virat Kohli) played, the cover drives and the pulls. But what was really good for me was what happened between his ears. Here is a man playing his 500th match, but he played it like it was his fifth match. That hunger, on a pitch that probably really didn't aid stroke-making, he fought through it. We saw that in the first Test as well, and we are seeing it again now."
Kohli steadied the ship after the Men in Blue lost wickets in quick succession in the second session. He remained unbeaten on 87 as India finished at 288/4 at stumps on Day 1.
"Not at his fluent best, for sure, but he made it count" - Dinesh Karthik on Virat Kohli's batting exploits on Day 1
Speaking in the aforementioned video, Dinesh Karthik further stated that despite not being at his best, Virat Kohli ensured to occupy the crease for a long time.
The senior wicketkeeper-batter pointed out how the seasoned campaigner showed respect to the good balls, making sure that he doesn't throw away his wicket while trying to play an attacking shot.
"If you heard Rahul Dravid speak about him, the two things that he said were respect and his sacrifices," Karthik added. "You can see that shining through in this innings yet again. Not at his fluent best, for sure, but he made it count. Just making sure that he stood there. Played those tough balls out. Even if he could play a million shots, just making sure that he is mentally there, just making it count for Team India."
It is worth mentioning that Kohli came up with an important contribution in the first Test against the West Indies as well, playing a crucial 76-run knock.