Mirpur: Virat Kohli once again played like a champion and steered India to a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka that also took India to the finals of the Asia Cup T20. Happy with his performance, Kohli said it was another crunch situation where he lived up to his expectations.
“Touchwood, it's coming out nicely now. It was another crunch situation (16 for 2). It's nice to challenge yourself. Kulasekara and Angie were bowling well. I knew I'm striking the ball well, so I had to take the pressure off the other batsman by hitting the odd boundary. But it had to be cricketing shots. Stepping out of the crease was the plan, because all their seam bowlers bowl that good length,” said Kohli.
“Except Chameera, the rest are all seam bowlers, so it was important not to let them bowl that length. If you're set on 25-30, the ball full of dew is a wonder, but when the ball changes you need to adjust with your bat flow and check your shot sometimes,” he added.
Meanwhile, Yuvraj Singh said that he felt pretty good. “I needed those hits for my confidence. It wasn’t the easiest wicket to bat on, you need to go there and give yourself some time. My job was to go and play the situation and I did that in this game and the last game. Just happy I'm hitting the ball well."
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said Yuvraj’s innings was crucial, not just for this match, but for the team as a whole. “I think consistent performance is very important. The last 9-10 T20s that we have played, we have done well,” said Dhoni, adding that it was good to see a few of the others contributing as well.
“Yuvraj Singh's innings was crucial, not just for this match but for the team as well. Good to see him get into some good form. Today's wicket was harder than some of the other wickets, but it was still a little soft, which allows the ball to grip and move around. It was good today, because you at least know it will be there for four overs or five overs. Overall, it was a track that was testing initially for the batsmen, but later on it was quite easy,” said the Indian skipper.
Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews said, “With the dew coming in, it felt like we were 20-25 runs short. But the Indians batted well, as always, and Virat was outstanding. If the wicket was like the previous one, it would have been a fighting total, but the dew came in and the ball started sliding through. We are depending heavily on our seniors. The seniors need to fire, otherwise we're in trouble."
