India’s batting ace Virat Kohli said it would be awkward to play in front of a pavilion named after him at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium, where he honed his skills playing age-group cricket and the Ranji Trophy.
After opening their World Cup campaign with a comfortable win over the mighty Australians, India will take on Afghanistan in their second fixture at the quadrennial showpiece in Delhi on Wednesday.
A pavilion at the stadium, known earlier as the Feroz Shah Kotla, is named after the former India skipper.
In a video posted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Virat was discussing his partnership with KL Rahul against Australia, which eventually turned the match in India’s favour.
The discussions in the video then veered to Virat fronting up to bowlers near a pavilion named after him.
“For me, that is the stadium where I grew up playing age group Ranji cricket. I also played for India there. Those memories stay fresh in your mind. You can feel it because that is where everything started. Selectors saw you for the first time and gave you an opportunity. It is special to go back and play at Arun Jaitley Stadium. We used to practice in B grounds and watch Ranji teams practice on the main grounds. It is awkward for me to be playing in front of a pavilion named after me. I do not like to talk about it a lot. But it is a great honour and I feel happy and grateful about it; it is something I never felt would happen to me,” Virat said in the video.
Talking about their 165-run partnership against Australia, which helped them chase down a target of 200 runs after being reduced to 2/3, Virat said that it was “bit more special” than their partnership in the Asia Cup against Pakistan of 233 runs for the third wicket.
KL said he was tired over the course of the partnership and had not expected to come out to bat so early.
“Tired, I would not lie. The only chat after 50-70 runs of the partnership was, let us conserve our energy, let us not run the twos. Once we hit it in the gaps, our instincts took over, and we started running. It was nice to start the WC with a win,” Rahul said.
