Mumbai: After struggling to get going in his debut Test series
in the West Indies earlier this year, Virat Kohli said he had decided
to approach his next Test with a mind not clogged with doubts.
Kohli
hit his maiden half-century by scoring 52 off 111 balls, besides
putting on a 97-run stand for the seventh wicket with Ravichandran
Ashwin, to help India avoid follow-on on the fourth day of the third and
final Test against West Indies.
AP Photo
"I
was tagged as someone who cannot play the short ball after the West
Indies tour. When I went in today, I knew they will throw the short
balls at me. I had a blank mind before playing every ball, which
helped," said Kohli on Friday. "Test matches are mental mind games and
the more clear I leave my mind, the better decision I can make."
"To
a certain extent I thought I got the West Indies call because so many
people took rest. Not having done well there, scoring runs again in a
calendar year and getting back into the team was satisfying."
"It
was a better feeling that you are included as that way you know the
selectors and the team management are showing faith in you in doing well
in that format. It's a confidence-booster."
The 23-year-old revealed that it was Sachin Tendulkar who told him to prepare normally, as he does for other games.
"It's
all about having a good mindset. Being in good form is fine, but I
needed to be in the right frame of mind to go and perform. It was one of
those days today when I thought 'I am going to get my full stride out
and if I can leave from the front foot, nothing better.' I left them
quite well. Sachin told me to prepare normally and I did so. It helped,"
said Kohli.
The Delhi lad felt Tendulkar, who narrowly missed his
much-awaited milestone of a 100th international century by just six
runs, was needlessly being pressurised by the media.
"A lot of
people have put unnecessary pressure on him. I don't know why. He has
achieved so much and people are making such a fuss about it," said
Kohli.
He said that Tendulkar, however, was pretty relaxed later in the dressing room.
"I
was still batting when he came back so I don't know instantly what
happened. He was pretty relaxed afterwards. It has happened to him a lot
of times. Obviously, he will be disappointed on missing out on a ton,
but he has been around long enough not to get bothered by it. He was
pretty relaxed in the dressing room."
Kohli praised teammate
Ashwin, who became only the third Indian cricketer to take five wickets
(5-156) and score a hundred (103 in 118 balls) in Tests, after Vinoo
Mankad in England in 1952 and Polly Umrigar in the West Indies in 1962.
"He
batted brilliantly, timed the ball well. I could see standing at the
other end, his mind was totally free. He was totally relaxed and pretty
much sure of what he wanted to do and reacting to the ball," said Kohli.
"The confidence from his bowling rubbed off. He just came out and
started timing the ball very well."
"We all knew he has batting
abilities. He has two first-class tons. He is in a good space as he has
taken wickets (18) in this series. Getting a hundred is always special
for a bowler. It was a brilliant innings."
Kohli said having Ashwin at the other end, who was playing shots from the word go, helped him settle down.
"It
was good to have Ashwin scoring from the other end. I could also take
my time and just get myself to spend more time in the middle. It was a
very good innings from him."
Meanwhile, Kohli said the Indian team is confident of wrapping up the game on the final day on Saturday.
"Our
aim was to get early breakthroughs, which we got. We would have loved
to have them four wickets down, but that did not happen unfortunately.
Tomorrow could be interesting if we could get early wickets. We will try
and put pressure on them. The game is still very much alive," he
insisted.
West Indies, who led India by 108 runs in the first
innings, were 81-2 in their second innings with opener Kraigg Brathwaite
(34) and first-innings centurion Darren Bravo (27) at the crease at
stumps on Day Four.
