"Told Rahul Dravid at one point that I was not able to do justice to myself"- Virat Kohli's response to PM Narendra Modi's query on poor T20 WC form
Indian superstar Virat Kohli responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's question on dealing with poor form in the 2024 T20 World Cup during the meeting on July 4. After Team India clinched the T20 World Cup title on June 29, the squad reached Delhi on Thursday, July 4, and went to the Prime Minister's residence for an interaction.
Kohli endured a dismal tournament, scoring only 75 runs at an average of under 11 ahead of the final. When asked by PM Modi about how he dealt with the lack of runs, Kohli responded:
"Thank you for inviting us all here. This day, I will forever remember it. I was not able to contribute as much as I wanted to do. I told Rahul Dravid at one point that I was not able to do justice to myself and this team. He told me that he had the belief that I will deliver when the situation arises."
Kohli even recalled telling skipper Rohit Sharma about not feeling confident walking out to the middle in the grand finale.
"I told Rohit Sharma also, when we walked out to bat (in the final) I was not very confident, but after the first delivery, I told Rohit 'what is this game. One day, you feel you won't even be able to score a run. And another day, you feel like it's all coming together'," said Kohli.
The champion batter struck his first ball of the innings to the boundary and never looked back. He scored a brilliant 57-ball 76 to help India recover from 34/3 to a formidable 176/7 in 20 overs.
"When wickets fell, I wanted to surrender myself to the team" - Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli continued responding to PM Narendra Modi's query and stated how he was in the zone during the 2024 T20 World Cup final and that his knock and the team's eventual victory felt destined.
After top-scoring with the bat, the 35-year-old watched the Indian bowlers pull off a thrilling victory by seven runs.
"When wickets fell, I wanted to surrender myself to the team. I was in focus. I was in the zone. After that, I realised that whatever is meant to happen will happen. This (the triumph) was bound to happen for me, and for the team. Even in the end, when the game headed toward a tense finish, we lived every ball. At one point, the hope was gone. After that Hardik Pandya took a wicket, it changed and we came back with every passing delivery," said Kohli.
Following India's title-clinching win, Kohli announced his retirement from T20Is as the second-leading run-scorer all-time with 4,188 runs.
It was his second World Cup title after his triumph in the 2011 ODI World at home.