Two weeks after India lost their World Cup crown in a semi-final defeat against Australia, Virat Kohli – who scored just one run in that match – has come out with an emotional outburst, saying “I am hurt”.
“I was personally very disappointed. I had been consistent for the last five years and to see such reactions for just one match it was really disappointing,” Kohli said in Kolkata on Friday.
India, after winning seven matches in a row, had a bad day against Australia in the semi-final that they lost by 95 runs after allowing Australia to score 328 for 7, which included a century by India’s nemesis this Australian summer – Steve Smith.
Kohli received support from skipper MS Dhoni and former captain Sourav Ganguly, who said that Anushka should not be blamed for Kohli’s failures.
“What wrong Anushka has done? She had only gone to see a cricket match like the families of other players. It is unfair to blame him for Kohli’s performance. It is the immaturity of people (criticising Anushka),” said Ganguly.
Kohli, who came in to bat at his customary No. 3 position, scored one run off 13 balls before getting out caught off the bowling of Mitchell Johnson.
But India’s best batsman of late feels he was hard done by with some of the comments not justified and overlooking his contribution to the Indian team over the past five years.
“Very disappointed that I got such a response just for one match. I have performed consistently but got blamed for one match,” Kohli, who is captaining Royal Challengers Bangalore in the ongoing IPL8, said.
“I was hurt. It makes you lose faith in a lot of people. Reactions were disappointing. They should be ashamed,” a disappointed Kohli said.
It must be noted that it was Kohli who scored a century (107) in India’s opening World Cup match against Pakistan, which helped Team India extend its World Cup winning run against the archrivals to 6-0.
Kohli scored 305 runs in all at an average of 50.83 during the World Cup.
Kohli then went on to boast of his contribution to Indian team’s success.
“In last five years, the number of matches I’ve helped India win and the consistency I’ve played [with] is more than anyone else in the team. I don’t think there’s anybody else in the team who has done better than me,” Kohli, who is already India’s Test captain, said.
The Delhi batsman, who was in the wrong news during the World Cup for a verbal altercation with mediapersons in Australia, hinted that some of the remarks made about his relationship with Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma were uncalled for. And then took a dig at the media.
