4th Test: Expectations that I have for myself as a player are more important to me, says Virat Kohli

Ahmedabad:  On receiving the Player of the Match award for his epic 186 in the drawn fourth Test against Australia at Ahmedabad, talismanic batter Virat Kohli stated that the expectations he had from himself as a player are of greater importance to him.

On Sunday, Kohli ended a three-year wait for a century in Test cricket, with the last instance coming in November 2019 against Bangladesh, by scoring 186 runs, his 28th ton in the format coming off 241 balls and 75th international century to give India a 91-run lead.

“The expectations that I have for myself as a player are more important to me. I think in Test cricket I wasn’t able to play with my tempo and template that I have played with for the last 10 years for a while now. So that was the one thing I was trying to do.”

“I felt like I was batting really well from the first innings in Nagpur. But we focussed more on batting as long as possible for the team. I did that for periods but not to the capability that I have done in the past. From that perspective I was disappointed but there was belief there that I was playing well and if I got an opportunity on a decent wicket then I can make a big one,” he said in the post-match presentation ceremony.

The 186 is also Kohli’s highest score against Australia in Test cricket, as India got a draw in Ahmedabad to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series 2-1. “I am not in a space now where I will go out and prove someone wrong. I also need to justify why I am there on the field. When I was 60 not out, we decided to play positively. But we lost Shreyas thanks to injury.”

“So, we decided to play for time. They were good with the ball and placed some good fields. We got a bit of a lead and gave ourselves some sort of a chance,” he added.

Kohli will be next seen in action when India play Australia in the first of three ODIs in Mumbai on March 17.

–IANS