"What can I add to my game to win the match" - Virat Kohli opens up on his mindset that has helped him deliver under pressure for India
Star Indian batter Virat Kohli, over the past 15 years, has stepped up several times in crunch situations whenever his team needed inspiration. Several budding cricketers as well as millions of fans around the world hail Kohli for his incredibly strong mindset and winning mentality.
However, Kohli believes this is not something that he developed but rather came naturally through his way of thinking. He claimed that even while adding more shots to his repertoire, he keeps on thinking about winning the game for his team and not about becoming a 'complete batter'.
Speaking to Star Sports, here's what Virat Kohli had to say about his mindset:
"Improvement happens when you think what can I add to my game to win the match. This very few people know that to technically look good you don’t practice; it is so that I can learn a new shot and I can score runs for the team and win the match. Think that's a nice way to put it; no one has given me perspective about this thing, but it feels like that it is certainly a gift. It is not something that I will ever claim; I can only feel grateful."
Virat Kohli on that magical six against Haris Rauf
Virat Kohli's six straight down the ground off Haris Rauf's bowling when India needed 28 runs from 8 balls during the 2022 T20 World Cup clash between India and Pakistan has been etched in Indian cricketing folklore.
However, Kohli doesn't believe in taking credit for it as he felt it was just something that was meant to happen. On this, he stated:
"You're a part of a moment that you felt was so pure and so intense at the same time, and you were chosen to be there in the execution of that moment. If I have seen such a moment, I will remember Sachin sir's sixes in Sharjah in the World Cup. And I’m in that moment, so I remember when this happened as well; everything comes to your mind.”
Kohli added:
"I didn’t know what was going to happen and how it happened. It just happened; I can’t sit here and claim it. That is a larger package and that is an injustice to what I felt that night, I can never forget it in my life. Never. And that is the reason people who saw it felt the same thing. It wasn’t like someone said it or claimed it; the moment had purity, and everyone felt it."
India will be hopeful that Virat Kohli will produce more such iconic moments over the next week to help the Men in Blue win the 2023 World Cup.