I was happy with my intensity – Virat Kohli on his defining knock against LSG
Batting with an injury requires significant heart and endurance. Luckily for RCB, Virat Kohli has that in abundance. After sustaining an injury in the game against the Mumbai Indians, Kohli stepped in as an impact player against the Lucknow Super Giants and showed why he is still one of the greatest players to have ever played the game.
Chasing 147 against LSG, RCB needed a couple of good knocks and the game was done. When Phil Salt fell early, Kohli stepped up and dropped his own signature masterclass, hammering 49 off just 34 balls, a knock comprising six fours and a six.
Talking in the post-match presentation, Kohli opened up on his fitness and his recovery from the fever he experienced. He also explained the conditions in play at Chinnaswamy as RCB ran away with the game after the bowlers put in a solid shift, restricting LSG to 146.
Sharing an update on his fitness, Kohli said, “Much better than the last game. I'm still not 100%. My knee was a bit sore last game. Even health-wise, I've been under the weather for four or five days now. So, just getting back up to my best. I started off well today, so I was happy with my intensity. Again, would have liked to carry on and finish the game off.”
Elaborating on the conditions, Kohli added, “Sometimes you have to take the conditions into account as well. The pitch slowed down considerably and I just wanted to probably keep going in the same manner. But yeah, in the end, should have probably finished that one off as well.”
Shedding light on the surface in play, Kohli stated, “Yeah, it was slower than normal. If you saw, there was not enough grass on it. The last 3-4 days have been very, very hot. It's been very dry as well. So, we thought it's going to be a dry, slow wicket rather than one of those bare ones that are tacky when we play in Chinnaswamy.”
He further added, “So, it was different and hence the idea was to push the game away from the opposition and take the game away from them in the first five-six overs. And for those reasons, the powerplay batting was important and hence I say that I was happy with my approach today. I was able to put the team in front early on.”
