After a record-breaking century against the West Indies in the ODI series opener, veteran Indian batter Virat Kohli made headlines while remaining humble and grateful. While smashing the hundred, he also scored 15,000 ODI runs as well. Speaking to broadcasters after the game, Virat Kohli said that he had never really focused on milestones, but felt “very grateful and very blessed” to be in a position to have played for India for this long as well.
“Just keeping my head down, working hard, and thanking God for everything that I’ve been blessed with and the opportunities that I’ve gotten in my life to be where I am,” he said. “We have a very blessed life and a blessed journey because so many people want to be here, but we get to be the lucky ones. So, we better put our head down and just work hard every day of our lives”.
However, Virat Kohli smashed 9 sixes, the first coming just four balls into his innings. With that, his mini-battle with Alzarri Joseph began, and he finished with 53 off 26 balls. However, he wants to keep himself “physically very fit, because the game is more or less in the mind”.
“I’ve never been a guy who practiced a lot, even when I was playing all three formats, as you know. So, it’s just for me about staying mentally fresh, staying in the present moment and just expressing myself really out there to play in a certain way, get used to this template more often,” he again shared.
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“I’ve got a challenge at this stage of my career to kind of up the ante and play a gear or two higher, and yeah, that was exciting for me to work on. Again, it excites you when you have to unlock a new version at this stage of your career, which will eventually help any team that you play for, be it playing for India or in the IPL. It’s really helped me a lot to play with a free mind, and I think that’s what’s working for me,” he added.
“But I think to follow a free mind, you need a fit body. So, for me it works the other way around. I stay physically fit and then I’m able to visualise the game in the way that I want to play, which allows me the best chance to go out there and execute in the way that I did tonight,” he stated.
“I’m going to continue to play like that, but not be reckless. There’s a fine line which, as a professional, as an experienced player, I should have the ability to execute in this way without playing reckless shots and get the team through. That’s something that we tend to forget when we are caught up with the hustle of the world and the positions we get into with so much attention and fame and so much love from the fans,” Virat Kohli added.
“It can be very easy to forget where you came from. But I think just looking back at the journey from when you started as a child just makes you feel grateful. I enjoy each and every minute that I’m out there playing for India, because I understand that, as I said, there could have been a possibility that I wouldn’t be standing here. I wouldn’t have played for India at all. That could have been my reality as well,” he shared.
“But I’m getting to live all these amazing moments representing my country, playing in front of such big crowds and doing the job for the team. As a cricket player, this is all that I dreamt of, and I’m getting it. So, I have nothing but gratitude in my heart, and, as I said, I just want to put my head down, keep working hard, put a smile on my face, and hopefully make other people smile too,” he said.
“Don’t think a lot about all the other stuff outside of the field. Once you enter the ground, this is everything, and it should be everything for you guys. And just put your body on the line. As I said, put your head down. If you have to run four doubles in an over when you’re batting at 150, you have to do it. There are no excuses,” Virat Kohli concluded.
