Prime Minister Narendra Modi was at his candid best as he interacted with T20 World Cup-winning Indian team during a breakfast he hosted for them on Thursday in New Delhi. From jokes to minute observations about India’s campaign in the USA and the West Indies, the Prime Minister flaunted his knowledge of the game while heaping praise on Rohit Sharma’s men for their victorious campaign.
PM Modi spoke to each and every player of the T20 World Cup-winning team during the breakfast at his residence in New Delhi. While speaking to Virat Kohli, the Prime Minister asked the star batter about his ‘up-and-down form’ in the T20 World Cup and highlighted how he scored more runs in the final than he had in the previous seven matches.
“Virat tell me, the battle this time was full of ups and downs,” PM Narendra Modi asked.
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Virat Kohli recalled the topsy-turvy journey durng the T20 World Cup, saying he felt he was not able to do justice to his talent and to the team during the World Cup campaign. Kohli added that the backing of the team, especially coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma, helped him playing the match-winning knock in the final.
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“Thank you for inviting us all here. This day, I will forever remember it. I was not able to contribute as much as I wanted to do. I told Rahul Dravid at one point that I was not able to do justice to myself and this team. He told me that he had the belief that I will deliver when the situation arises,” Kohli said.
“I told Rohit Sharma also, when we walked out to bat (in the final) I was not very confident, but after the first delivery, I told Rohit ‘what is this game. One day, you feel you won’t even be able to score a run.
“And another day, you feel like it’s all coming together’. Especially when wickets fell, I wanted to surrender myself to the team. I was in focus. I was in the zone. After that, I realised that whatever is meant to happen will happen. This (the triumph) was bound to happen for me, and for the team.
“Even in the end, when the game headed toward a tense finish, we lived every ball. At one point, the hope was gone. After that Hardik Pandya took a wicket, it changed and we came back with every passing delivery,” he added.
HOW DID YOUR FAMILY REACT? PM MODI ASKS KOHLI
PM Narendra Modi highlighted that the backing of people and the belief that they have an individual sometimes become a driving force at a crucial point.
“Everybody was feeling it. You had scored 75 in total (before the final) and in the final (76). There is reward when you have the backing of everyone. It becomes a driving force,” PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister kept the mood of the conversation light, asking Virat Kohli how his family reacted when he was not getting runs before the big final.
Virat Kohli had managed just 75 runs in the first seven matches. However, in the big final against South Africa in Barbados on Saturday, June 29, Kohli stepped up and hit a match-winning 76 off 59 balls, helping India post a competitive total of 176. South Africa fell short of the total by 7 runs despite threatening to walk away with the game until the 15th-over mark of their chase.
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