Play each game as if it were your last, and be glad about it rather than unhappy. Virat Kohli discovered it during his lean period with the bat. Kohli failed to strike a single international hundred between November 2019 and September 2022.
After breaking the dry spell with his maiden T20I century at the Asia Cup in 2017, he has since scored two hundreds in his previous two ODI innings, the most recent of which came against Sri Lanka in the opening ODI in Guwahati.
Desperation doesn’t work, Kohli remarked after winning Player-of-the-Match, “that’s the one thing I’ve learned.” The game is still fairly straightforward.
It’s when we begin to overcomplicate everything with our own attachments, ambitions, and attachment to who we become in the eyes of others rather than to who we were when we first picked up the bat or the ball and began playing.
I believe that when that viewpoint shifts, you begin to place yourself in a situation where everything just continues getting worse. I am unable to cling to things. The game will progress and continue; several participants have participated in it before.
I won’t keep playing indefinitely. What then am I attempting to hang onto or safeguard? So these were the realisations I had. I’m in a joyful state right now. I just want to keep playing this game with happiness for as long as I can.”
Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill established the foundation with a 143-run opening partnership in only 19.4 overs after Sri Lanka put India in on Tuesday. Kohli too got off to an aggressive start and kept it for the entire game, scoring 113 runs off of 87 balls for a strike rate of over 130.
His contribution enabled India to reach 373 for 7, which proved to be too much for Sri Lanka. There wasn’t, according to Kohli, anything special about my preparation. Sometimes you just can’t seem to get the right rhythm, but today I simply felt like I was striking the ball well right away.
I simply continued to bat with conviction, and even as wickets started to fall, I was kind of forced to hold one end and bat alongside other players. I anticipated that we would require those 25–30 more runs in light of the second-half circumstances (dew), and in the end, I was just relieved that I was able to secure them for the team, giving us a comfortable score.”
Kohli was dropped twice throughout his innings, the first time on 52 and the second time on 81. Since luck doesn’t always favour you, Kohli expressed his gratitude for days like these. At the end of the innings, Kohli stated, “I would take them any day.”
Look, luck plays a significant part, and on nights like this when luck bends a little in your favour, you may just bow your head and thank God. When our luck doesn’t cooperate, we frequently become angry. But it’s also crucial to recall these moments.