I prefer the challenge of batting up the order: Virat Kohli

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Virat Kohli hadn't said this before, but now that he is in a different zone, he finally said it on Wednesday. "I was desperate to bat at No 4...I had been waiting for that opportunity for a long time. I know these are very big shoes to fill but I am happy to have started off well," Kohli said at the end of the first day's play at the Wanderers.

He also spoke about his hunger to score a century in South Africa. "This is one country where I didn't have an international century. Before I came here, it was my prime target, unfortunately it didn't happen during the ODIs," he said, wiping sweat from his forehead.

Kohli said he kept pushing himself in the training sessions in order to be ready for the big knock when the chance came. "I had settled in very well and didn't want to let this opportunity go by," Kohli said.

The right-hander disclosed that he felt similarly on India's 2011-12 tour of Australia. "I was really driven to get that century (in Adelaide )... It was pretty much same here."

Kohli kept a cool head and played out the morning session when Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel were on fire. The Indian vice-captain said that he was not bothered by the South African pacers. "I don't think there was anything in the bowling of Steyn and Morkel that bothered us...It was all about playing to our strengths and we were able to do that," Kohli said.
He also had a go at Steyn & Co., who had claimed to have softened him up after the first ODI. "I had been apparently softened up by them...Well that wasn't the case, and I think I showed that," Kohli added.

Virat Kohli More Stills


Keywords: Virat Kohli,international century,ODIs, Dale Steyn , Morne Morkel ,South African pacers,cricket news,sports news