'People who can hold their nerve come out on top' - Virat Kohli looks back at his journey ahead of 100th T20I

Virat Kohli will be back in cricketing action when Team India meet arch-rivals Pakistan in the second match of the Asia Cup 2022 at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, August 28. Both teams will be renewing their rivalry at the very same venue where the Indian team was handed a humiliating 10-wicket loss in the T20 World Cup fixture last October.

While Kohli returns after an extended break of over a month, he is all geared up for giving his best shot against Pakistan in what also happens to be his 100th T20I appearance. At the same time, the batting megastar who has scored back-to-back half-centuries against the Men in Green in his last two T20I fixtures explained what his mindset is ahead of the marquee clash.

Our endeavor has always been to play aggressive cricket in T20s: Virat Kohli

“Look our endeavor has always been to play aggressive cricket in T20s. Even in the past we have had many big scores and we have chased down many big scores and we have won series in many countries. That cannot happen without having intent in the first place. But I think in big tournaments you need more awareness and cricketing smarts than wanting to play a certain brand of cricket because that can implode on a particular day as well,” said Virat Kohli while speaking to sports broadcaster Jatin Sapru ahead of the clash against Pakistan.

“And we have the talent and ability in the team to understand the situation and play in that situation accordingly. That’s been my personal experience in big tournaments especially World Cups and Asia Cups and so on that you need to look at the situation accordingly and the people who can hold their nerve the best eventually come out on top when it’s a crunch situation,” he added.

Kohli’s last two outings have been dismal, having managed just 12 runs against England. However, coming back fresh after an extended break, the batting icon would be hoping to put up a good show against the arch-rivals as India look to seek redemption for their humiliating T20 World Cup defeat last year.