India vs New Zealand: 'Played according to….' Virat Kohli reveals ...

15 Nov 2023

Livemint

India vs New Zealand, ICC World Cup 1st semi-final: India's star batter Virat Kohli crossed another milestone on Wednesday against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Virat Kohli surpassed legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's record as he slammed his 50th century in the One Day International (ODI) format of the game. Now, he is highest ton scoring batter in ODI cricket. In the mid-innings break, Virat Kohli shared his feelings and said that it all feels like a dream and seems too good to be true.

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"Well, I'm feeling (pauses). Again, the great man just congratulated me. All this for me feels like a dream, it is surreal. It's too good to be true," Virat Kohli said as per news agency PTI. "I never felt that I would come here in my career, it is a semifinal, just glad that everything came together."

What a day to create such a record as India is playing a crucial World Cup semi-final against New Zealand and the legend Sachin Tendulkar was himself present to witness the moment. After surpassing Sachin's record, Virat Kohli bowed down to the legend in a mark of respect.

"It is the stuff of dreams, Anushka (Sharma) was there, and Sachin Pajji was there in the stands. My life partner, my hero - he's sitting there. And all these fans at the Wankhede. It's very difficult for me to explain this, but if I could paint a perfect picture I would want this to be the picture," Virat Kohli added.

Focus is to make India win

Despite his record-breaking innings, Virat Kohli is not losing the focus and knows that the only goal is to make India win. "For me, the most important thing is to make my team win. I've been given a role this tournament and I'm trying to dig deep. I played the role so that the guys around me can come and express themselves," said Kohli, who has scored 711 runs so far, including three hundred and five fifties.

"That's the key to consistency - play according to the situation and play for the team," Virat Kohli added.

On the good score of 397 runs by India while playing first against New Zealand, Virat Kohli chose to not get too comfortable and said, "In a big game, anything above 330 you are happy with, so to get to 400 is amazing.

"A lot of credit has to go to (Shreyas) Iyer, the way Rohit (Sharma) and Shubman (Gill) played at the top, KL finishing with a flurry. It was a perfect batting performance but we still have to go out there and be a professional with the ball," he added.

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Updated: 15 Nov 2023, 08:43 PM IST