‘Good to be out of the pond. You scored so many runs in international cricket but then..’: Virat Kohli after surpassing Kumar Sangakkara’s record in ODIs

After captain Shubman Gill fell for 24 runs, the duo of Kohli and Sharma stitched together an unbeaten second wicket partnership of 168 runs to set up the nine-wicket win for India. With more than 5500 runs being scored by Kohli and Sharma together in ODIs, the two veteran batters have been the mainstay of Indian batting order since more than once decade. When asked about the key to the duo’s understanding and the form batting together, Kohli shared how the duo had an understanding right from their early days of playing together for India.

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“I think from very early on, it was pretty clear that we both understood the game really well. That’s the only reason that you can play for so long when you have an understanding of the situation. Your own game and how to apply it in different situations. That’s something that we have always taken a lot of pride in and when back together, we understand we are probably the most experienced players now. But even back in the day, we used to think that if we have a big partnership, the kind of strokes we play, we can really take the game away from the opposition. And it is just about communication and staying in the game. I think it all started from the 2013 series against Australia at home. When we started getting those big partnerships together and really took the game on. From then on, it was pretty clear. The opposition also knew that these guys are there for 20 overs together, any total is chasable and you know the game is never in the opposition’s favour. So I have really enjoyed batting with Rohit. Good to score a few together,” said Kohli.

With this Australia tour perhaps the last tour of the duo to the country together, the duo were asked about the experience of playing in Australia and the duo termed the country as a place where they have played some of their best cricket.

“Yeah thank you as well. We have loved playing in this country and playing in front of these big crowds. We have played some of our best cricket here as well. Thank you very much for welcoming us so well. And you guys are brilliant. We have never felt short of support here,” Kohli said Sharma too echoed the same. ‘Thank you, Australia,” shared Sharma.

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