Mohali: India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni lauded Virat Kohli’s “incredible innings” that carried them into the ICC World T20 semifinals on Sunday night, saying he can “never be someone like Virat” when it comes to batting. Kohli, who has played a crucial role in each of India’s win so far, was in a different zone against Australia on Sunday. For someone who admits he thrives on challenges and pressure situations, to play such knocks time and again is something out of the ordinary. In T20, Kohli has an remarkable average of 122.83 in successful chases.
Said Dhoni after India’s six-wicket win here, “I think it was an incredible innings, given the fact that the wicket was not easy to bat on. Also to some extent Virat was hampered in between when we had a partnership and Yuvraj Singh twisted his ankle. “But it was a tremendous batting effort by him. More often than not, it is all about selection and execution of shots. So I feel overall he was very good.”
Dhoni smiled at the mention of the usually aggressive Virat playing a calculated innings saying he would want him to retain his original character that makes him Virat, the winner. “He’s been an aggressive character, ready to take on challenges and he will be aggressive on the field, but he will also improve. He is shifting in the right direction. He is a tremendous character and he shouldn’t lose his character, that’s what his strength is,” the skipper said.
With India needing 96 in the final 10 overs, Dhoni played an able foil on the other end. He ran hard between the wickets, played the ball on merit and helped accelerate the innings. Dhoni joked that Virat “needed to pay him for running his runs,” before adding, “I think quite a few middle-order batsmen who have been good, they have all been very good runners - right from Michael Bevan to a lot of others.
“Every team has fielders who are not the quickest or are quick but don't have a strong shoulder. You only have a few (brilliant fielders). Like with us, we have Jadeja and Virat Kohli, who can field anywhere.”
