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Don’t Want To Restrain Myself On The Field Just Because I an Captain: Virat Kohli

Written by Vishwas Gupta

Virat Kohli’s 42nd century in One Day International (ODI) cricket helped India beat the West Indies by 59 runs (DLS method) in the second ODI at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad on Sunday. Kohli who failed to cross the three-figure mark during World Cup 2019, notched up  a century in his first ODI innings after the World Cup. Following his match-winning performance, Kohli appeared on Chahal TV — a show hosted by leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal — and said he doesn’t want to restrain himself on the field just because he is the captain of the team.

“I am enjoying myself on the cricket field. I don’t let myself get into a typical mould where I have to restrain myself as I am the captain of the team. We have been blessed to represent India and thus it’s important to enjoy the life. We should dance whenever there is music played and enjoy with the opposition players as well. Right now, I am in a very happy space in my life and that’s why I start dancing whenever I get the opportunity,” Kohli said on Chahal TV.

Virat Kohli’s century helped him break a couple of more records as he surpassed former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly’s ODI tally of 11,363 runs to become India’s second-most successful batsman in the format, only behind batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar who has 18,426 runs to his name.

Kohli also revealed how tired he was when he had reached 65 during his 120-run knock.

“It is always our target that one of our top three gets a big score. Rohit has been doing that consistently for us. I have also chipped in whenever I have got an opportunity,” said Kohli.

“Unfortunately, both Rohit and Shikhar failed . So, it was important for me to stay at the wicket for a long time and take the score somewhere near 270-280.

“Honestly, I was too tired by the time I reached 60-65. But then the situation was such that I had to play without taking too much of a risk and build a partnership. As a cricketer, we always learn that whenever we are thinking about the team, we get the enthusiasm and the energy to play long.”

 

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Vishwas Gupta