Indian captain goes past Don Bradman's record
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Virat Kohli being congratulated by Wriddhiman Saha after reaching his double hundred at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Friday.[/caption]Internet Desk: Virat Kohli on Friday joined an elite company on Day 2 of the ongoing one-off Test against Bangladesh in Hyderabad by slamming his fourth double hundred as captain. He joined Don Bradman, Michael Clarke and Graeme Smith in the list of captains with four double hundreds in Test cricket.
The Indian captain has revealed the secrets of scoring his double hundreds at ease. Kohli, on scoring the double hundred against Bangladesh at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium became the first batsman to register four double centuries in four consecutive series. In an interview to BCCI.TV, Virat revealed the secrets of his batting.
“I think it is because of captaincy that you tend to go on more than you would as a batsman. I think there is no room for complacency when you become the captain. I have always wanted to play long innings. My first seven-eight hundreds were not even 120 plus scores. I made a conscious effort to bat long. I controlled my excitement and worked on not getting complacent at any stage. I have worked on those things and have worked on my fitness over the years. I feel like I can go on for longer periods. I don’t get tired as much as I used to before. I definitely don’t get satisfied when I get a Test hundred which was the case before because I used to give too much importance to Test cricket separately. Now, I have just started to treat it as any (other) game of cricket and I have to keep going on till the time my team needs me to,” said Virat.
He emphasized on staying focused in all the three different formats of the game. According to him, switching to different formats of the game is the need of the hour.
“It is not an easy thing to do with the amount of cricket we play now a day. It is more of a mental thing. I don’t necessarily focus too much on practice. Sometimes, you don’t get to practice too much, but mentally you need to focus and think about what you are going to do in the game. Switching to different formats is the need of the hour and I want to contribute in all three formats. It has always been my mindset. I have to prepare in a certain way. It is more mental than getting into the nets. I think about the game a lot.”
The Indian captain won a very important toss at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Speaking on the wicket, Kohli said, “The wicket was really good to bat on to be honest. It wasn’t as testing as other wickets that I scored centuries on. To get a double hundred you need to bat for a long period and you need to do things right to get to that score. The focus was only to follow my intent and at the same time, be careful about choosing my shots. Luckily, I struck the right balance in this particular innings and it feels good to have got a big score. “
Lastly, he admitted that taking the second DRS would have meant that Saha, Jadeja and Ashwin will left with no reviews when they come in to bat.
“If I got out, I would’ve been the fifth batsman to get out and others could use the one review still. I didn’t want to use a review that I felt like I was plumb in front because a Saha, Jadeja or Ashwin could be nearing a milestone and they could use it for themselves as well. The second one to me felt like I was plumb and that’s why I started walking briskly as well. No grudges with the umpire either as it happened way too quickly for them to understand where it actually impacted the pads.”
About the first review that he took, Kohli said, “I thought I was plumb in front. I was falling back when I got hit on the pad as well and that’s why the umpire could not give not out either. I wasn’t standing there, I was falling behind. If you look at the real-time replay it looks plumb. The umpires don’t have a replay and so do the players.”
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