“Today was my opportunity to step up”: Virat Kohli

Indian skipper Virat Kohli was delighted after notching up his 42nd ODI century in the second ODI against West Indies. Kohli’s sensational knock of 120 off 125 deliveries helped India to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The century was Kohli’s 42nd in ODI cricket, leaving him only 7 behind the all-time record of 49 by Sachin Tendulkar.

After a World Cup in which Virat failed to convert starts into big hundreds, the skipper was delighted that he could finally cross the hurdle. Both the openers, Rohit and Shikhar had failed to register big scores on the board. The impetus was thus on Kohli to guide an inexperienced middle-order throughout the innings.

Speaking to the media after the match, Kohli said on his innings:

“Feels good to get a hundred when the team wanted me to get one. 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.”

Kohli also explained the decision to bat first after winning the toss:

“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 overs. We knew that anything over 270 would be challenging.”

With the victory, India have ensured that they cannot lose the series. With the first ODI ending in a no-result, India will now aim to seal the series in the final ODI at the same venue in Trinidad.