‘Don’t need to prove myself to anyone,’ says Virat Kohli after whitewashing West Indies

After scoring an important half-century in India’s 7-wicket win over West Indies in the third T20I at Guyana on Tuesday, India captain Virat Kohli said he doesn’t need to prove anyone with the bat. India swept the three-match series courtesy their dominant performance on Tuesday.

Kohli, despite being in decent form with the bat somehow was not able to get a big score. On Tuesday, he played a chanceless innings of 59 off 45 balls after India found themselves in a tricky situation at 27 for 2, chasing 147 for victory.

“I don’t think I need to prove myself with the bat or anything like that. I just want to do my job for the team. I don’t play for my own performance,” Kohli said answering the critics after India’s victory.

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“It is just about getting the team across the line whether I score 20, 30, 40, 50, or whatever. I have been playing like that for 11 years so nothing new for me and no pressure at all,” Kohli added.

Kohli, who scored five centuries in the World Cup, surprisingly did not manage to get to the three-figure mark. His returns in the first two T20Is -19 and 28 - of the West Indies series were modest by his standards too. But the Indian captain stamped his authority in the final T20I, forging a match-winning 106-run stand with Rishabh Pant.

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Pant, who was widely criticised for his shot selection in the first two games, came good in the third T20 International, scoring an unbeaten 65 off 42 balls as India reached the target in 19.1 overs.

“For the first two games, he was really disappointed as he didn’t get any runs. Sometimes you don’t have the rub of the green but today he made sure that he applied himself and backed his skills, hit the big shots when required.

“He played with the tempo of the innings, the tempo of what was required. I am really looking forward to seeing more performances from him like this. He has got the tremendous talent we all know. It is all about getting into his zone and doing this more often for the team,” the skipper stated.

Kohli had high praise for the Chahar brothers Deepak and Rahul. “We wanted to try a couple of guys. We gave both the Chahar brothers a go in this game. It was Rahul’s first game and Deepak’s come back. Playing for the first time, I think he (Rahul) was outstanding with the new ball,” Kohli. “Pitch didn’t have much, there was a bit cloud cover but kind of swing he (Deepak) got early and got those three wickets really set West Indies back and they could not get to a big total,” he added.

(With agency inputs)

First Published: Aug 07, 2019 12:01 IST