Asia Cup 2023: Virat Kohli lavishes praise for KL Rahul, talks about the challenges of playing 3 days in a...

Virat Kohli was one of the pioneer in helping India achieve a thumping victory over the arch rivals Pakistan. The former Captain scored his 77th Hundred due to which India set a mammoth target of 357. Coming back from injury, KL Rahul also scored a breathtaking ton. 

Virat Kohli, after being named Player of the Match, expressed his fatigue but emphasized his dedication to helping the team in various ways. He acknowledged that in the recent match, his role was to rotate strike while KL Rahul provided a strong start. Kohli takes pride in his ability to push for easy runs, even highlighting the simplicity of taking doubles.

Virat Kohli said

“I was going to ask you to keep the interview short, I’m very tired. I’m always prepared to help the team in different ways. Today, KL got a great start and my job was just to rotate strike. I take a lot of pride on trying to push for easy runs, pushing for a double is as easy as they come,” Virat said. 

Regarding a particularly unconventional shot – the reverse ramp boundary – he admitted that it was an unusual choice for him but attributed it to the respect for crossing the 100-run mark. Kohli and Rahul, both conventional cricketers, rely on good cricket shots to excel.

“Because I crossed the 100, there was a bit of respect for that shot. I don’t play shots like that and I looked very bad playing it. Me and KL are both conventional cricketers, we don’t try fancy stuff but we can get a lot of purchase through good cricket shots.” 

He praised the partnership with Rahul as a positive sign for Indian cricket and expressed his happiness at Rahul’s impressive return to ODI cricket.

Great partnership and good signs for Indian cricket. Very happy for him to come back to ODI cricket in that manner,” he added.

Kohli also mentioned the challenge of playing another match the following day but showed confidence in his experience from playing over 100 Tests, understanding how to manage such situations. He humorously acknowledged his age and the importance of recovery in the humid conditions. Finally, he gave credit to the groundsmen for their excellent work on the pitch.

“I was pushing for those runs and happy for it, but I was thinking I need to play at 3 pm tomorrow. Luckily, we are Test players, I’ve played over a 100 Tests so I know how to come back and play the next day. It was really humid out there, I’m 35 in November so I need to be taking care of that recovery as well (chuckles). A big shout out to the groundsmen from my side, I think they did a fabulous job,” Kohli concluded. 

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