During the Indian team’s visit to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Virat Kohli opened up on the struggles he went through during the T20 World Cup, admitting that he had low confidence while heading to the finals. Kohli, who scored 75 runs in seven innings, was under high pressure to deliver a big one for India. His body language was down in an unusual way and his performance with the bat was making his once dominating self look like a joke.
Even though Kohli was doubting himself, two people in the team who were closest to him, did not. Captain Rohit Sharma said after the England semifinal that Kohli is probably saving his best for the final, a statement that was repeated by coach Rahul Dravid as well.
Call it fate or something else, but once again Kohli chose the big stage to come back to his old form, playing a fantastic inning of 76 off 59 balls. After the match, Kohli, who was given Player of the Match, admitted that he did all this while not feeling good about himself. In fact, during the semifinal against England, after getting dismissed for just 9 runs, a visual of unsatisfied Kohli getting comforted by coach Dravid in the dressing room flew off.
But as it is with great players, a bit of luck and courage makes it all come together. For Kohli, this was it. The moment to either make it or break it, which he took and made it as he scored his first half century of the tournament but also his last in his T20I career.
“That day will stay forever in my heart because I couldn’t contribute much to the team in the tournament. I even told Rahul Dravid bhai that I haven’t done justice for the team and myself so far. But he told me that when the opportunity arrives, I am sure that you will perform. Even when Rohit and I were going to bat, I told him that I don’t have enough confidence. But when I got three boundaries in the first over, I told him ‘What is happening? One day, I am not getting a single run, and now I’ve got three boundaries in an over,” Kohli told PM Modi while reminiscing about the T20 World Cup final.
