It was like two Twenty20 games for me

Virat Kohli says he never thought that target was out of reach

Sachin Tendulkar,the man with 48 one-day hundreds,had spent the first 75 innings of his career without a century. But he was already rendered as the future of the 50-over game with 17 half-centuries. At the same stage of his career,Virat Kohli having played just four more innings by Tuesday now has nine tons. And lest we forget,20 fifties to go with it.

Though from different eras,its hard not to compare the feats of Kohli with that of Tendulkars. It was Tendulkar who was once expected to do the impossible. After his knock at the Bellerive Oval on Tuesday,it will be hard not to expect the same from Kohli.

Chasing 320 for victory from 40 overs to earn the bonus point,Kohli scored 133 runs from 86 balls to give India a win in 36.4 overs. To put things in perspective,Herschelle Gibbs 175 against the Australians in their record hunt of 434 was scored at 8.7 runs per over. Today,Kohlis innings enforced a run-rate of 8.75. He later claimed that he never once thought that the target was out of reach.

If you get such thoughts in your mind,you will not achieve the score. I looked at the chase as two Twenty20 games, Kohli said. They had exactly half 160 by 20 overs,and the win a 100 balls later. It will lift the spirit of the side. And if this turns out to be our last match,we will take a lot of positives from the game, he added.

No one in recent times has dominated Lasith Malinga the way Kohli did at the Bellerive Oval on Tuesday. In the 15 balls faced,Kohli crashed him for eight fours and a towering six for 44 runs — at a strike rate of nearly 3/ball. Malinga,over all,went for 96 in 7.4 overs. It made Kohli say: Once you get on top of him,stay there. Because it is fatal to let him back in,especially with his ability to bowl yorkers. I hit him for 24 in an over,and yet they persisted with him. Because he can get a wicket with every ball.

He made it seem all so easy,but Kohli claims that the innings was only scored because he had nothing to lose. He had lost everything he could,from his respect with the finger wagging incident during the Tests,to the verbal volleys exchanged with hecklers while fielding in the outfield in the one-dayers. I know my critics will always be there. Im not playing for them. Im playing for a team that needs its spirits lifted, he said.

Fair enough,but will he read the positive reports in the newspapers tomorrow? Kohlis answer said it all. No. I cared about what was being written about my off-the-field exploits during the Tests. But now Ive stopped reading or listening, he said,before illustrating it with an example. A family member called me yesterday and started talking about cricket. I cut the call.