Bengaluru: He is an incorrigible romantic with the willow –a perfect symphony of skill, class and consistency. Virat Kohli at present lives in a world where no shot is beyond his imagination. And his century against Kings XI Punjab, which was his fourth in IPL-9 -- the highest by any batsman in IPL ever – is testimony to technical purity, unflappable temperament and a fondness for big stage.
Kohli, who was Man-of-the Match for his 50-ball 113 against KXIP on Wednesday, said, “When all that was happening out there, I thought surely I can't get a 100 in 15 overs. I wasn't believing it was happening.”
“My main aim is to get runs, it doesn't matter how I play. Momentum is a big thing in T20s. When you get into the zone, you feel you can hit any ball. So you just want to give yourself. I didn't hit any balls because I was injured. But when I settled down, I thought I shouldn't think about my stitches. When I got the flow going, the pain went away and I was able to play shots,” he added.
“Today was a shortened game, but I was glad we got 15 overs in. We were desperate to get onto the park. It wouldn't have mattered even if it was a five-over game. We wanted four in four. We now have three in three. So there's no reason why we can't win. We have got to that stage, where we've stopped thinking about other teams. We are just relaxed. The guys in the dugout are doing a great job. We've got the momentum now. Chris, looked dangerous in the last game, he was in the zone again today. Everything is coming together. In the previous tournaments, we panicked. But hopefully we can continue what we have been doing,” said the RCB skipper.
Kings XI skipper Murali Vijay said, “We thought 180 could have been chased down, but credit to them for the way they played. It's difficult to bowl to Gayle and Kohli, and we weren't good enough today. We want to finish on a high. We will play out heart out in our last game.”
