🏏West Indies tour of India 2026: 1st ODI - on 27/09/26 @2:00 PM IST🏏- Page 9

Virat Kohli : [On reaching 15,000 ODI runs and becoming the fastest to the milestone] Well, thank you firstly for the kind words. Well, my focus has never really been on these milestones, so to say. It's just understanding the situation along the course of just doing the job for the team, whatever. Achievements come along. Obviously, I feel very grateful and very blessed to be in this position for having played for so long. And yeah, just keeping my head down, working hard, and thanking God for everything that I've been blessed with and the opportunities that I've gotten in my life to be where I am. We have a very blessed life and a blessed journey because so many people want to be here, but we get to be the lucky ones. So, we better put our head down and just work hard every day of our lives. [On his batting and what allows him to keep performing consistently] Yeah, I think just the understanding of the game firstly, also at the stage that I'm at, you know, just keeping myself physically very fit, because the game's more or less in the mind. I've never been a guy who practiced a lot, even when I was playing all three formats, as you know. So it's just for me about staying mentally fresh, staying in the present moment and just expressing myself really out there to play in a certain way, get used to this template more often. I've got a challenge at this stage of my career to kind of up the ante and play a gear or two higher, and yeah, that was exciting for me to work on. Again, it excites you when you have to unlock a new version at this stage of your career, which will eventually help any team that you play for, be it playing for India or in the IPL. It's really helped me a lot to play with a free mind, and I think that's what's working for me. But I think to follow a free mind, you need a fit body. So for me it works the other way around. I stay physically fit and then I'm able to visualize the game in the way that I want to play, which allows me the best chance to go out there and execute in the way that I did tonight. [On his head space at this stage of his life and career] I'm just very grateful and happy, to be honest. Like, you know, it's... I think the only thing we need to do is just look back once and, you know, where we came from. That's something that we tend to forget when we are caught up with the hustle of the world and the positions we get into with so much attention and fame and so much love from the fans. It can be very easy to forget where you came from. But I think just looking back at the journey from when you started as a child just makes you feel grateful. I enjoy each and every minute that I'm out there playing for India, because I understand that, as I said, I could have been a possibility that I wouldn't be standing here. I wouldn't have played for India at all. That could have been my reality as well. But I'm getting to live all these amazing moments representing my country, playing in front of such big crowds and doing the job for the team. As a cricket player, this is all that I dreamt of, and I'm getting it. So I have nothing but gratitude in my heart, and, as I said, I just want to put my head down, keep working hard, put a smile on my face, and hopefully make other people smile too. [On his message to young players about remembering why they started playing the game and maintaining their love for cricket] Oh, for sure. I mean it's a fact which we don't want to face as athletes, that even if everything ends after this game, you have to play the way you want to play the game. And I think you have to remind yourself that every time you go out to play. That unlocks that positivity, that taking a risk, that unlocks that mindset which helps you to win games for your team. That's the only advice I would give to the young guys: don't think a lot about all the other stuff outside of the field. Once you enter the ground, this is everything, and it should be everything for you guys. And just put your body on the line. As I said, put your head down. If you have to run four doubles in an over when you're batting at 150, you have to do it. There's no excuses. So if they play like that, then you should be fine. [On whether playing fewer formats gives him more clarity and allows him to feel calmer when he gets an opportunity] Yeah, I mean, also clarity. I mean, we're a year away from the World Cup. I know what my goal is, and yeah, it's pretty clear for me that whatever games we get, I just need to keep working on different aspects of the game, keep myself physically fit, challenge myself to be out there, run from boundary to boundary in the last 15 overs if I can, field in the inner ring, show intensity. If I keep ticking all those boxes, as I said, I've got some time left to play in this format as well, and yeah, I just want to enjoy every day. So when I get an opportunity, I feel happy rather than feeling anxiety or pressure to make the most of it. And I just want to express myself and play my game. As I said, I promised myself I'm going to play positively because I can. So I'm going to continue to play like that, but not be reckless. There's a fine line which, as a professional, as an experienced player, I should have the ability to execute in this way without playing reckless shots and get the team through. [On his partnership with Shubman Gill and what makes them click while batting, as well as Gill growing into the captaincy role] There's a reason why he's leading the team. He's got the right perspective, as I said, to look at the game in the way that making the team win from different situations. So when you play with a guy like that, it's not very difficult to string in a partnership, because he knows what needs to be done, I know what needs to be done. You could have a conversation here and there based on your experience in terms of the areas we could probably hit, but he's the top ODI batter in the world. There's not much that needs to be said to him. It's just about stringing in partnerships and making sure we do justice to the ability and the talent we have in this team. And he's probably up there with the best players in the world and obviously a very talented guy. So not having to say much to him while batting. In the field, when he needs my help, I'm always available.

Shai Hope | West Indies captain: [On whether West Indies could have done anything differently with the bat] Yeah, for sure. We could definitely put more runs on the board. You know, when you come in on surfaces such as good surfaces here in India, you got to make sure you put a good score on the board. Maybe 60 to 80 runs short, to be fair. But yeah, then in the way you're bowling, when you're trying to defend a target, close to 290, I think you gotta make sure everything goes right for you. [On the observation that West Indies may have been 30–40 runs short, and whether the middle overs were the issue given they were going at more than seven an over at one point] Yeah, that's it. When you got a platform like that, I thought the guys started really well. It's something that we were trying to improve on a lot for the last couple of series, the opening pair. And must commend the guys for the start they gave us. They laid a very good foundation, but then we got stuck there in the middle and then it made it a lot more difficult for us in the back end to get a competitive total. [On what West Indies can take from the match with World Cup qualification still ahead] Well again, we just got to grasp those key moments. Like I said, if we gotten a bit more runs, you never know, it could have changed the context to the game. And also we had a couple of chances when we fielded, so we never know what could happen there with that 290 score. You always got to believe that whatever runs you got on the board, you can defend it. But we always know that there's a lot more runs you can get in on these type of conditions. But yeah, you just got to take all the learnings from it and find ways to improve as a team. [On the successful opening partnership with Justin Greaves and whether Greaves is okay after being unable to finish the game] Hopefully. Yeah, we've got to see now what's going on, but it's unfortunate he couldn't finish the game for us today. [On the remaining two ODIs and his record of scoring runs in India] Yes, for sure, I need some.

Shubman Gill | India captain: When I got out, I thought I should have finished it. But, it was a very satisfied innings. Probably the drive off the front foot (vs Alzarri) was my favourite. (On Kuldeep) Someone like him, if he's bowling, he's a wicket-taker. We were on the back foot, he got us back in the game and got us crucial wickets. (On Kohli's batting) He's batting superbly, he's enjoying the game a lot more. He's playing with freedom. He always has the game to clear the boundary. He's won so many matches for the country, you want him to play however he wants to. We would want an 8th batting option who can contribute 25-odd runs. We are open to trying different combinations.

Potm kuldeep

I'm so so happy for him

Kuldeep Yadav | Player of the Match: I actually loved the batting from Shubman and Virat bhai. It feels awkward to receive this award. I liked my rhythm, I was very calm. I just bowled whatever I felt like bowling. Good to get the confidence back. I still believe there's a lot to improve. It's all about bowling flow. When you're in good flow, everything looks good.

Aaj Kohli kya khaa kar aaya tha?

Uski SR