Virat Kohli's brilliant 120-run knock (off 125 balls) led India to a 59-run win over West Indies in Queen's Park Oval, on August 11. After the match, the 30-year-old stated that it was his turn to step up and take responsibility after Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma were dismissed early.
Kohli's ton helped India post a 279/7 off 50 overs. Windies were then reset a revised target of 270 runs off 46 overs due to weather conditions.
"We knew that anything over 270 would be challenging. It feels good to get a hundred when the team wanted me to get one," Kohli said after the match.
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"Shikhar and Rohit didn't get a big one. One of the top three has always got the big one. A senior man had to step up and today was my opportunity to step up. It was important to string in a lot of dot balls," he added.
He also quipped that it was a good toss to win as the wicket got difficult later onwards.
"Good outing with the bat. Exactly why we wanted to bat first. If you saw the later half of the West Indies innings, it was difficult to bat on. I think the rain in between helped them else it would have been tough to bat in the middle," he said.
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"The batting became a little easy thanks to the rain when (Shimron) Hetymer and (Nicholas) Pooran were batting together. It was tough gripping the ball when it went into the outfield. It was about staying in there and hoping one wicket will put pressure on them and luckily we got the wickets."
Kohli also broke Pakistan great Javed Miandad's 26-year-old record to become the highest run-scorer against West Indies in ODI cricket
He also revealed that he played Kuldeep Yadav instead of Yuzvendra Chahal due to the number of left-handers in the West Indies team.
"The number of left-handers work in favour of Kuldeep and that's why we went in with him rather than Chahal. He is more lethal against the left-handers because of his variations and the lines that he bowls to them," he said.
"Kedar (Jadhav) was precise as well. With the number of left-handers, you want to go with a chinaman bowler rather than a leggie. With Jadeja playing, it helps our balance."
He also hailed Shreyas Iyer's 71-run knock.
"He (Iyer) is a very confident guy and has the right attitude. Really got the tempo going and took the pressure of me. After I got out, he got the extra runs as well," Kohli said.
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The third ODI between the two sides takes place on August 14, Queen's Park Oval. India lead 1-0, after the first match was abandoned.
(PTI Inputs)
