IND vs SA | Responsibility of captaincy helps me get big scores, says Virat Kohli
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The Indian Captain believes that the added responsibility of captaincy has helped him bat long in testing conditions and score big for himself and the team. He smashed a career-best 254 not out and went past 7000 test runs on Day 2 in Pune on Friday, shattering many records along the way.
Kohli had burst onto the scene as a swashbuckling batsman who won the U19 World Cup with India in 2008. The Delhi boy was initially known more for his tattoos and short-tempered attitude rather than his talented batting. But with time, he matured into one of the finest batsmen India has ever seen. His U19 WC triumph had given an indication that he had the traits of a leader. But no one could have imagined the beast he became after he first captained team India in 2014 in that famous Adelaide test where he scored twin hundreds. He was the only captain to score Test hundreds in his first three test innings.
When everyone thought that it could not get better, he proved everyone wrong again. Earlier, he used to score hundreds but he wasn’t able to capitalize on them and go on and score big daddy hundreds. But in India’s home season of 2016-2017, he scored four double hundreds in four consecutive series. With his career-best score of 254, he became the only Indian batsman to score 7 double centuries, surpassing Sachin and Sehwag’s tally of six. He also surpassed Sir Don Bradman’s tally of 6,996 test runs.
"Feels great it's a nice little thing to get along in your career, to get most number of double hundreds," Kohli told BCCI.tv.
"I struggled to get big scores initially but then as soon as I became captain then you invariably just think about the team all the time, you can't just think about your game. In that process you end up batting more than you can imagine that's been the mindset for a long time now," he further added.
He believes that thinking about the team brings out the best in him and that the thought of getting the team into a winning position motivates him to bat for longer periods of time.
"It's difficult but if you keep thinking (about the) team then you push yourselves in situations you can't otherwise. That's the key in hot and humid, testing conditions you think about the team and you end up batting 3-4 hours more," he said.
Kohli further spoke about the importance of scoring big hundreds away from home and in testing conditions, which reflects clearly in his choice of favourite double hundreds.
"The top two will be Antigua and Mumbai, the one against England. All double hundreds are special but those two are more special because one was away from home and one against England in challenging conditions, it was very hot and humid there," he said.
He also spoke about the reason India tried to get to 600 and the difficulty that the SA batsman would face with end of day’s play nearing. He gave Jadeja credit for helping India score maximum runs possible along with having ample time to have a crack at the SA batting line up.
"The plan was simple, to get to 600 as soon as possible and make them bat tonight. Jaddu batted brilliantly, at a great tempo so that allowed me to take risks and hit the gap. That partnership was great for us we also bowled and ended up taking three wickets,” he said
"That was the plan, we wanted to attack and be positive not just play out sessions and days. Whatever happened in the end that was the plan," he signed off.
