I believed that I would come not out, but that was my inner ego: Virat Kohli opens up on India's WC semi-final loss

When the history of India cricket for the year 2019 will be written, amongst the many highs that the team has scaled- Test series win in Australia, ODI series win in New Zealand, Home dominance, 360 ICC Test Championship points- the biggest disappointment, low, setback, heartbreak- call it whatever you want- will always be the semi-final loss to New Zealand in the ICC Cricket World Cup.

After having steamrolled almost every opposition (barring England, of course!); after having finished the group stage at the numero-uno spot, the Men in Blue faltered at the second-last hurdle; something they have been doing for six years running now. One of the biggest disappointments- and there were many- of the semi-final in Old Trafford was seeing Indian Captain falter once again in a fifty-over knockout fixture.

While Kohli has been- Well! Kohli- when it comes to playing match-defining knocks in the knockout fixtures in the T20 World Cups (Read: the 2014 and 2016 edition where he won back-to-back ‘player of the tournament’ award), his performances in One-day World events have left a lot to be desired.

Virat Kohli on the 2019 World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand

And, so Old Trafford 2019 was added to the list boasting of Sydney 2015, Oval 2017, occasions where Virat failed to score when he was trapped plumb in front of the wicket by Trent Boult for 1. The Indian captain, in a recent interview, opened up about that semi-final defeat.

According to the Indian captain, deep down he’d believed that the team would need him to stand up in one of the games. Kohli had racked up 443 runs at an average of 55.38 which included five half-centuries in the World Cup but the fact that a three-figure score eluded him and considering the standards he has set for himself, it was still considered as an underwhelming tournament for the champion batsman. Kohli felt that he would come not out; like he has done so many times in the past sans that day.

“Deep within I believed the team would need me to stand up and deliver in one of the games. I believed that I would come not out, but that was my inner ego,” Kohli was quoted as saying by Times Now.

Coming back to that semi-final loss, Ravindra Jadeja (79) and MS Dhoni (50) fought valiantly but it still wasn’t enough as Team India was eventually bowled out for 221 in response to New Zealand’s 8/239.

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