WATCH: Virat Kohli's Brutally Honest Answer To Rahul Dravid's 'Century Drought' Question
BCCI.TV posted a video in which Rahul Dravid asked Kohli whether it was a difficult time not to score a Test century for such a long time.
Team India's senior batter Virat Kohli scored a brilliant ton against Australia in recently-concluded Ahmedabad Test. Kohli played a century in Tests after a long gap of 1205 days. The star batter was adjudged man of the match for scoring 186 runs in this match. The fourth and final Test between India and Australia ended in a drab draw on Day 5 as early stumps were called. In this way, India won the Ind vs Aus Border-Gavaskar Trophy series 2-1. After the match got over, Virat Kohli was interviewed by head coach Rahul Dravid. During their interesting conversation, Virat was asked about his century drought in Tests, to which the legendary batter gave a 'brutally honest' reply.
BCCI.TV posted a video in which Rahul Dravid asked Kohli whether it was a difficult time not to score a Test century for such a long time.
In response, Virat said: "To be honest, I've led the complications to grow on me a little bit because of my own shortcomings. I think the desperation to get the 3-figure mark is something that can grow on you as a batsman. We've all experienced that at some stage or the other. I think I led that happen to me to a certain extent."
"But also the flip side to it is that I am not a guy who is happy with 40 or 45 runs. I am someone who always takes pride in performing for the team. It's not like Virat Kohli should stand out. When I am batting on 40, I know I can get a 150 here and that will help my team. That was eating me up a lot. Why am I not able to get that big score for the team because I always took the pride in performing for the team when it needed me, in difficult conditions and difficult situations," he added.
A conversation full of calmness, respect & inspiration written all over it! 😊 🙌
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 14, 2023
A special post series-win chat with #TeamIndia Head Coach Rahul Dravid & @imVkohli at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad 👍 👍 - By @RajalArora
FULL INTERVIEW 🔽 #INDvAUShttps://t.co/nF0XfltRg2 pic.twitter.com/iHU1jZ1CKG
Virat then said that more than not getting a hundred, him not being able to help the team with the bat was bothering him more.
"The fact that I wasn't able to do that was bother me. Not so much the milestone as such as I don't play for it. A lot of people ask me this question, 'how do you keep scoring a hundred?'. I always told them, a hundred is something that happens along the way within my goal which is to bat as long as possible for the team and get as many runs as possible. So, the milestone is never my focus. But yes, I have to be brutally honest, i does become a little complicated because the moment you step out of the hotel room, right from the guy outside the room to the guy in the lift to the bus driver, everyone is saying we want a hundred. So, it's like, it does play on your mind," he asserted.
"But I think that's the beauty of playing so long as well, to have these complications come and over come these challenges. When it comes together, like it did in this game, that gives you an extra gust of air to go beyond, go further and start enjoying cricket a lot more and be excited for what's to come. I am just happy that it happened at the right time, before the World Test Championship final. I will definitely be going there pretty relaxed," he concluded.