India skipper Virat Kohli says the responsibility of leading the team motivates him to push his limits in testing conditions which eventually helped score big Test hundreds.
No Indian batsman has more double hundreds in Test cricket than Kohli, who smashed a handful of records with his career-best unbeaten knock of 254 on day two of the second Test against South Africa.
He surpassed Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag by amassing a record seventh double hundred, the highest in Indian cricket history.
The 30-year-old, who now has 26 Test hundreds and 43 in ODIs, also went past Sir Don Bradman’s Test tally of 6,996 runs.
“Feels great it’s a nice little thing to get along in your career, to get most number of double hundreds,” Kohli told BCCI.tv .
“I struggled to get big scores initially but then as soon as I became captain... then you invariably just think about the team all the time, you can’t just think about your game. In that process you end up batting more than you can imagine that’s been the mindset for a long time now.”
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Talking about his unbeaten 254 here, the skipper said thinking about the team helped him play his marathon innings in hot and humid conditions.
“It’s difficult but if you keep thinking (about the) team then you push yourselves in situations you can’t otherwise. That’s the key in hot and humid, testing conditions you think about the team and you end up batting 3-4 hours more.”
“That was the only challenging thing and then (Ravindra) Jadeja came to bat and you have to run fast with Jaddu. It was physically and mentally challenging and but that’s what you prepare for as an international player.”
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Talking about his double centuries, Kohli said he would rank the 200 against West Indies in North Sound, Antigua and the 235 against England in Mumbai as the top two.
“The top two will be Antigua and Mumbai, the one against England. All double hundreds are special but those two are more special because one was away from home and one against England in challenging conditions, it was very hot and humid there.”
India declared its first innings at 601 for five and then went on to reduce South Africa to 36 for three.
Kohli added that he was delighted by day two’s result as everything went as per plan for India.
“The plan was simple, to get to 600 as soon as possible and make them bat tonight. Jaddu batted brilliantly, at a great tempo so that allowed me to take risks and hit the gap. That partnership was great for us we also bowled and ended up taking three wickets.
“That was the plan, we wanted to attack and be positive not just play out sessions and days. Whatever happened in the end that was the plan,” Kohli said.
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