“Rahul bhai came to me and I don't remember what he said” - Virat Kohli shares an interesting tale from epic MCG knock

Team India batter Virat Kohli has revealed that he had no idea what head coach Rahul Dravid told him during a break in the T20 World Cup match against Pakistan in Melbourne last year as he was ‘zoned out’.

The Men in Blue beat Pakistan by four wickets in a thrilling contest at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in a match that went down to the last ball. Chasing 160, India were in big trouble at 31/4. However, Kohli played an epic knock of 82* off 53 balls to lift India to one of their most famous wins.

Speaking at a PUMA event recently, the former India captain narrated an interesting tale about how he was so engrossed in the match that he did not even listen to Dravid’s advice. Recalling the famous knock, Kohli said:

“I still can't make any sense of it. That's a very honest admission. And a lot of people have tried to ask me what were you thinking, how did you plan and I have no answers. The fact of the matter is that I was so much under pressure that my mind had shut off completely by the 12th or 13th over. I was going through what I was going through, then I came back in Asia Cup and I was playing well and I felt like wow I'm ready to play to play in this World Cup.

On the ‘chat’ with coach Dravid during a break, he added:

“At the 10th over mark, we were 31 for 4 and I had just ran Axar (Patel) out. I was 12 off 25, or something. I remember in the break, Rahul bhai came to me and I don't remember what he said. I swear and I even told him this as well. I told him, ‘I have no idea what you told me in that break because I was zoned out’.”

Following Axar’s dismissal, Kohli and Hardik Pandya (40 off 37) added 113 for the fifth wicket to keep India’s hopes of victory alive.

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“What happened that night, it won't happen ever again”- Virat Kohli

The Indian cricketer still displays a sense of disbelief while discussing his knock against Pakistan at the MCG.

According to him, it was a once-in-a-lifetime event, which might never happen again. Kohli commented:

“My mind was spinning so fast. I was like this is worse that it was before. I had spiraled down so far down that there is no comeback from here and that was my honest feeling at the halfway mark. That is when my instinct took over. So when I stopped thinking and planning, whatever God-given talent I have that came to the surface and then I felt like something higher was guiding me.

“I can't claim any of that. I was trying to do it before as well but it wasn't working. The lesson for me was stop using your mind so much because it actually pushes you away from real magic. What happened that night, I can never explain it and it won't happen ever again.”

India needed 16 off the last over to win the match and got home off the last ball as Ravichandran Ashwin lofted Mohammad Nawaz for a single over mid-off.