Virat Kohli opens up on his feelings after losing the World Cup semi-final

Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni had given India a ray of hope with their century partnership in the semi-final against New Zealand. But with both of them getting out with the target only a few runs away, India’s dream of winning the World Cup shattered. The wonderful campaign ended when nobody saw it coming and there were some grim faces in the Indian dressing room. Even Virat Kohli was left distraught after the loss but he credited the opposition for outplaying the Men in Blue.

The journey has once again begun now with India set to tour West Indies for the 3 T20Is, as many ODIs and a couple of Test matches. But the loss is still stinging some of the players and of course, the fans. However, the Indian captain Kohli feels that the team should be proud of itself for the way they played throughout the tournament.

India topped the points table in the league stage and not many had given New Zealand a chance to beat them. But the BlackCaps, like they always do, punched above their weight and stunningly defended 239 runs in the crunch game.

You should be proud of the way you played

“What we have spoken to the team is that you should be proud of the way you have played and must never forget that. The moment you start taking credit away from what you’ve done, you start putting unnecessary pressure on yourself. The important thing is to be humble about what you do, but at the same time, don’t beat yourself up to the extent that you lose your admiration. That balance is very important,” Virat Kohli said while speaking to the Times of India.

However, even the 30-year-old admitted that it hurt after India were knocked out of the tournament after playing so well throughout the World Cup. he was of the opinion that the team believed in achieving special things for the country but New Zealand outplayed them and it was a tough pill to swallow.

“When your belief is right up there and everyone’s playing so well, and suddenly, you know, you’ve been outplayed. It’s very difficult to digest because you know you didn’t make many mistakes to be knocked out. When you make mistakes, you can point them out and take ownership of that, but when you have been outplayed, then the acceptance becomes difficult. You wake up and think you didn’t do much wrong, but we are still out,” Kohli further added.