Virat Kohli's 'play hard but respect the opponent' attitude wins fans' respect

Fans were up for a treat on Friday as the aggressive side of Virat Kohli was up on display after a long time in the first T20 at Hyderabad as the chase-master led India to victory in its highest ever run-chase in T20s. Virat Kohli top-scored for the team as he remained unbeaten on 94 runs and finished the match off with a six. Virat Kohli, who looked quite unsettled in the first half of his innings, had found the right touch after he dispatched one-off Kesrick Williams' deliveries to the cleaners. Post that strike, Kohli gained back his confidence and became unstoppable as he left everyone stunned with his seamless strokeplay and technique.

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During the post-match presentation, Kohli was asked about the notebook celebrations during the game where Kohli ticked Williams' name off a notebook after dispatching his delivery for a maximum. Kohli revealed that he had exacted revenge on Williams as the West Indies bowler had gotten him out in Jamaica in 2017 and had celebrated in a similar fashion. Kohli, however, went on to add that it was done in a lighter moment and said that the attitude was to play hard but respect the opponents.

"At the end of the day, we shake hands, give each other a high-five. That's what cricket is all about. Play it hard but have respect for your opponents", said Kohli to Manjrekar in the post-match presentation.     

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Kohli justifies notebook celebration

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“All the young batsman watching don’t follow the first half of my batting. That was too bad and I was trying to hit too hard. I started to get going after that over from Jason. I analysed what went wrong and played accordingly in the second half of my innings,” said Kohli.

Furthermore, he stated that rather than entertaining the crowd with big six, he focuses on doing the job for the team. “Whenever I play T20 cricket I am not someone who comes to the ground to hit the ball in the air to entertain the crowd. I focus on doing the job,”  Kohli said. “I don’t have to change much for formats. I just want to contribute in all three formats, that’s what I want to do. When you are chasing a big total, there are a lot of distractions with the scoreboard pressure. But after a few dots, the game puts you in a position where you just have to hold your shape and play the shots,” said skipper Kohli.

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