Was desperate to do well: Kohli

Virat Kohli had several starts during this series but did not go on to make them count, until Saturday. After playing his longest innings, in terms of deliveries faced, Kohli made 103 for his third Test century. After the end of the day's play, he spoke about how his desperation to do well in the series perhaps worked against him, the partnership with MS Dhoni, the state of the wicket and the direction the Test is headed.

On his form in the series

I was waiting for this one long innings. I was working hard for the last month. You can't keep performing every innings and there will be ups and downs. You need to stay positive whether you do well or not. Mentally I was feeling really good (through the series). I got into the 20s three times, probably got a good ball in Ahmedabad. I made a few mistakes, after that I was waiting for this one innings. I was not doubting myself, not thinking what people were saying about me.

On being desperate to score

It was a very important innings. This is the one format I want to do very well. Against New Zealand, I was in a good mindset and could get good scores straightaway. Personally I was eager to do well in this series. Probably I got a bit too desperate to do well.

On the partnership

We aimed to play it over by over and stretch the game as much as possible and not think about how many runs to score in a session or the day. Goal was to concentrate throughout. This is the type of wicket where you need to show some patience and apply yourself the whole time. The wicket has not changed much but the cracks are opening up.

... contd.

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