Kohli throws light on making daddy tons as skipper
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NEWDELHI: Like a true captain who thinks about the team first rather than personal milestones, Virat Kohli said the responsibility doesn’t allow him to be complacent. That’s the reason behind Kohli hitting his fourth double century in as many series on Friday.
“I think because of captaincy you tend to go on more than what you usually would as a normal batsman. The room for complacency is no more present when you become captain,” Kohli said in an interview to bcci.tv.
“That has something to do with me playing long innings. I have always wanted to play long innings and my first seven or eight hundreds were not even 120-plus scores. After that I made a conscious effort to bat long, control my excitement or not be complacent. I have worked on my fitness as well. I feel I can go on for longer periods now. I don’t get tired as much as I used to before,” said Kohli.
Kohli said he used to give more importance to Test cricket earlier but now treats it as ‘any game of cricket’. “I definitely don’t get satisfied when I get a Test hundred, which used to be the case before, because I used to give too much importance to Test cricket separately. Now I started to treat it as any game of cricket. I have to keep going on till my team needs me to,” he said.
To achieve the level of consistency, Kohli said mental preparation is more important than anything else. “It’s not an easy thing to do especially with the amount of cricket we play nowadays. But I guess it’s more of a mental thing. I don’t necessarily focus too much on practice in season. Sometimes you might The most Virat hit during a double ton, in Mumbai against England.
balls Virat went without a four, during his against England in Mumbai.
Virat scored running between wickets against Bangladesh
during his double century against West Indies
during his double ton against New Zealand
during his double ton against England
not get to practice so much. But mentally you need to focus and think about what you are going to do in the game.
“Switching to different formats is the need of the hour. I certainly want to contribute to all three formats. That’s always been my mindset so I have to prepare in a certain way. I think about the game a lot.”
Kohli admitted the Hyderabad pitch was easy to bat on but he still had to do some things right to get the double century. “It wasn’t as testing as the other wickets but to get to a double hundred you need to bat for a long period and you need to do things right. The focus was only to follow my intent, at the same time be careful in terms of choosing my shots.”
I made a conscious effort to bat long, control my excitement or not be complacent at any stage. I have worked on those things. I have worked on my fitness as well.