Thought we were out after 10 overs: Virat

Batting superstar Virat Kohli feared that India were virtually out of the ICC World T20 after the first 10 overs of their chase against Australia and has no idea how he and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni managed to achieve the seemingly imposing target.

“It virtually felt like you are out of the tournament at the end of 10 overs. To pull the game back after that along with MS Dhoni - I don’t know how we did it. Even out there in the middle, I didn’t know how this was happening. I am just grateful that I was able to do it for the team,” said Kohli. He spoke about how emotional he became once Dhoni hit the winning boundary. “It was a pretty emotional feeling when I saw Dhoni hitting the winning runs. I don’t really know what to say. That is the reason you play the sport. That is the feeling that you crave as a sportsperson. It is such a wonderful moment for your team. To see your teammates celebrate and get happy is a wonderful feeling,” added Kohli. By his own admission, he has “never played an innings” in a situation where 39 were needed in last three overs. “I have never played an innings like that where we needed 39 off 3 overs and I have been able to pull it off with Dhoni batting at the other end,” Kohli said.

“The thoughts, the pre-planning for the boundary just kept coming to me in my mind. I knew a hundred percent that I had to target James Faulkner in the 18th over. I thought 3 overs and 39 runs, and one over has to be a big one at least close to 15 runs. We got bigger (19) than that. I think just before the 16th over, I thought if we don’t get too many boundaries, we might be struggling in the end because the pitch was not as flat.”