New Delhi, July 5 , 2024
Talismanic batter Virat Kohli, who signed off from T20Is with a Player of the Match knock of 76 as India defeated South Africa by seven runs to win the T20 World Cup final, said the triumph in Barbados was something which was bound to happen for him and the team.
Kohli made these comments during the Indian team’s interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a breakfast meeting in New Delhi on Thursday. “Virat tell me, the battle this time was full of ups and downs,” PM Narendra Modi asked the right-handed batter about his time in the tournament.
To this, Kohli replied, “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.”
“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’.
“Especially 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 the team.”
“Even in the end, when the game headed towards a tense finish, we lived every ball. At one point, the hope was gone. After that Hardik Pandya took a wicket, and it changed and we came back with every passing delivery,” said Kohli.
PM Modi highlighted that the support of people coupled with Kohli’s belief in himself, became a driving force at a crucial point. “Everybody was feeling it. You had scored 75 in total (before the final) and in the final (76). There is a reward when you have the backing of everyone. It becomes a driving force,” he said.
Player of the tournament, fast-bowler Jasprit Bumrah talked about doing his bit to help the team in tough situations during the tournament. “Whenever I bowl for India, I bowl in very crucial stages. Whenever the situation is difficult, I have to bowl in that situation.”
“So I feel very good when I am able to help the team and if I am able to win the match from any difficult situation, then I get a lot of confidence and I carry that confidence forward as well. And especially in this tournament, there were many situations where I had to bowl tough overs and I was able to help the team and win the match,” he said.(Agency)
