Captain Virat Kohli remembered his dad after guiding India to a convincing six-wicket win over Bangladesh in their Asia Cup opener in Fatullah on Wednesday, and said whatever he has achieved in his life so far was solely because of the contributions of his departed father.
Captaining the side in place of an injured regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Kohli led from the front with a magnificent 136 to lead India to a comfortable win.
“I am very happy with the team performed today,” said Kohli, who was adjudged man-of-the-match, at the post-match press presentation ceremony for his match-winning knock that helped India register their first international win of 2014.
“I always thank my dad every time I achieve something. He worked very hard to help me get where I am,” he said.
Kohli shared a 213-run partnership with Ajinkya Rahane (73) to lay the platform for India’s chase of 280.
“It was very important for someone like Ajinkya to bat through the innings. He was playing so well in New Zealand and South Africa and he played beautifully here too. He is a very positive guy and works very hard. So it was good for us to stay together till the end,” Kohli said about Rahane.
Kohli also lauded the bowling department for restricting Bangladesh to 279 for seven on a flat track.
“We bowled well today and there was an improvement in the death overs. It was good to see everyone step up in the absence of Dhoni,” he said.
Meanwhile, Abdur Razzak, who came in to talk on behalf of an injured regular skipper Mushfiqur Rahim at the post match ceremony, held the dew factor responsible for the home team’s defeat.
“Yeah, we had enough runs. But the dew caused problems, and we had not anticipated that,” he said.
He praised Mushfiqur for his 113-ball 117-run knock that propelled Bangladesh to the huge total.
“Mushfiqur has improved a lot and he is playing very well for the team. We will have to push a little bit more while batting first,” Razzak said.