You need new challenges every innings that you play: Virat Kohli

India continued its winning streak against Pakistan after they beat their arch-rivals by 6 wickets. Virat Kohli was yet again the star of the match with his wonderful knock of 55 runs off just 37 balls. Pakistan were asked to bat first by MS Dhoni who won the toss and chose to field first. The match was delayed due to rain and game had to be reduced to an 18 over a side game. The pitch looked very tricky and the run scoring seemed to be very difficult. The effect of the pitch was evident as Pakistan managed just 118/5 in 20 overs. India in reply, did not start well after losing Rohit Sharma early. Later, Mohammad Sami struck a double blow and added spice to the match. But, Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh then forged a match-saving stand and saw India gain the upper hand. The stadium erupted as after MS Dhoni struck a six and single to wrap up the chase.

MS Dhoni, who hit the winning runs, accepted in the post-match conference that he did not except the track to offer so much spin. MS Dhoni said: “I didn’t expect it to spin so much. The spinners got plenty of help out there. There are areas where we can still improve. The third seamer can give you a bit of help if there is dew around, but if I knew that there was so much turn on offer, then I don’t have a problem playing an extra spinner. In this format”

Shahid Afridi appreciated Virat Kohli’s efforts and congratulated the Indian team for their victory. Shahid Afridi said: “I want to congratulate Dhoni and his team for playing well. I think we didn’t score enough runs. I think we didn’t bowl in the right areas and I didn’t bowl well. Virat Kohli batted very well. I would have picked another spinner for this pitch. We are playing Australia and New Zealand next, so we’ve got to play very well. This game is done, we need to quickly focus on the next game.”

Virat Kohli was adjudged as the Man of the Match. He said that the pitch was little challenging but that is what brings out the best from a batsman. Virat Kohli said: “It was a challenging wicket out there. You need new challenges every innings that you play. I was disappointed that I got out for about 25 in the last game. I knew if I had scored 40-45 we could have won. That really hurt because we don’t bat like that at home. Today it was all about keeping calm and luckily I got a great partnership with Yuvraj. 49 odd I scored in Dhaka against Pakistan was probably one of my better knocks. I think the seamers bowling cutters was a little difficult. You need to watch the ball to play it late to dab it down to third man. Yuvraj came out, weathered the storm and smacked a few. It’s great for him that he came out in a pressure situation. He’s feeling confident. I think a score on the board always helps me calculate better (talking about his success in run-chases).”