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Afif Hossain has replaced the batter, who has missed his team’s last five LPL games after feeling dizzy following a diving catch during their season opener

Madushka Balasuriya16-Dec-2022Tom Kohler-Cadmore, the English batter, has withdrawn from the Jaffna Kings line-up at the Lanka Premier League after reportedly feeling discomfort, believed to have stemmed from a concussion he had suffered earlier this year. Bangladesh batter Afif Hossain has been drafted in as his replacement.Kohler-Cadmore played in Kings’ first game of the tournament, but following a diving catch during the game, he had reported some dizziness. While he had subsequently felt okay, he has missed the Kings’ five subsequent games. Kohler-Cadmore had since indicated to the team management that he wanted to return home to England to undergo tests, after which the decision to release him was taken.He had originally suffered the concussion during the PSL at the start of the year when he was struck in the head while batting in the nets while with Peshawar Zalmi.”It’s nothing critical but the decision was taken as a precautionary measure,” Saranga Wijeratne, the Kings team manager, confirmed.His replacement, Afif, is available to take part immediately, starting with the game against Galle Gladiators on Sunday.Afif made his T20I debut in 2018 against Sri Lanka and has since scored 1003 runs in 55 innings in the format at a strike rate of 120.55. He is also handy with the ball, capable of chipping in with part-time offbreaks, though he is not often used with the ball by Bangladesh. He also has the unique distinction of being the youngest T20 debutant to pick up a five-wicket haul, at just 17 years and 72 days, when he took 5 for 21 for Rajshahi Kings against Chittagong Vikings in the BPL in December 2016.Kings are currently second on the LPL table with four wins from six games.

Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel prevailed in a tense last-over victory against Antigua Hawkbills in Port-of-Spain to move to fourth place in the points table after their second successive win

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Aug-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAdrian Barath’s 38 helped setup a strong target for Antigua•Getty Images

Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel prevailed in a tense last-over victory against Antigua Hawksbills in Port-of-Spain to move to fourth place in the points table after their second successive win. Antigua needed 33 off the last two overs and 19 off the last but they fell short by a run despite hitting three fours and two sixes in the last two overs in the rain-affected match.After T&T scored 169, Antigua’s innings was interrupted by rain in their first over and the revised target was 134 from 15 overs. They lost two wickets, of Kieran Powell and Rahkeem Cornwall, within six overs but Johnson Charles smashed three consecutive sixes in the fourth over off Samuel Badree to hoist their run-rate to 10. However, Dwayne Bravo counterattacked with a slower delivery and dismissed Charles for 46 in the eighth over which conceded only three runs. Sulieman Benn followed it with another parsimonious over by giving two runs in the next and Antigua now needed 66 from 36.Benn then removed Marlon Samuels and Devon Thomas in three balls in the 11th over despite being hit for a six in the same over. Out walked Ricky Ponting at No. 7 but he was soon caught and bowled for 1 by Kevon Cooper in the 12th over at the end of which Antigua needed 45 from 18. A six from Ben Rohrer and a few singles helped them score 12 in the next over. Cooper started the penultimate over with a wide and a four but struck with Kemar Roach’s wicket on the third ball. But Roher and Sheldon Cotterrell struck a four each to still keep them in the game.Now needing 19 form six, Cotterrell smashed a six on the first ball and took three byes on the next but Rohrer fell for 28 on the third ball. Ten required from three and Delorn Johnson gave only two runs in the next two balls to seal another thrilling win for T&T despite being hit for a six on the last ball.When T&T chose to bat earlier, they lost Kevin O’Brien in the second over but Adrian Barath and Ross Taylor put on 54 from 45 before Taylor departed for 25, and Barath was run-out in the 12th over for a quick 38. The Bravo brothers took on the Antigua bowlers from there, Dwayne being more aggressive hitting two fours and four sixes during his 25-ball 46. Darren scored 38 from 30 in the 73-run stand which they put on in 44 balls. Three wickets and only five runs in the last over gave some consolation to Antigua, but T&T had amassed 101 runs in the last 10 overs by then.

A round-up of the Ram Slam T20 matches that were played on December 6, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Dec-2015Warriors failed to chase down a target of 128 against Lions and their 21-run loss denied them a play-off spot in this season’s Ram Slam T20. With Titans already through to the final, the play-off will now be played between Dolphins and Cape Cobras at Kingsmead on December 9 and the winner will meet Titans in the final on December 12.Looking for their third straight win, the Warriors line-up imploded in the chase and folded for 106 in 18 overs. Dwaine Pretorius (3 for 19) and Eddie Leie (4 for 32) were the main wicket-takers for Lions.Pretorius ran through Warriors’ top-order, taking three wickets at the start to help reduce the side to 34 for 5 by the seventh over. Christiaan Jonker scored an attacking 45 but he played a lone hand and once he was dismissed by Leie in the 16th over, the Warriors lower order folded quickly.After being put in to bat, Lions’ innings was driven by contributions from Dominic Hendricks (35) and Devon Conway (20), which helped them recover from a shaky start of 40 for 3 in the seventh over. Pretorius’ run-a-ball 14 and Fortuin’s 13 in the latter half of the innings helped lift the score to 127 for 9. Basheeru-Deen Walters had the best returns among Warriors’ bowlers with 3 for 21, while Andrew Birch and Sisanda Magala ended the innings with two wickets apiece.
Andre Russell’s all-round performance – 4 for 11 followed by a blazing 66 not out off only 23 balls – guided Knights to a comfortable four-wicket win over Titans in Benoni. The bonus-point win for Knights had no bearing on the positions of the two teams in the table – Titans, are already through to the final, while Knights finished last on the table, two points behind Lions.Put in to bat, Quinton de Kock and Graeme van Buuren tried to lift Titans’ innings taking them to 45 for 2 from a score of 9 for 2. The Knights bowlers, however, chipped away at the wickets limiting Titans to 136 for 9. Van Buuren top-scored with a 41-ball 57 that included six fours and three sixes. Chris Morris scored an 11-ball 21 in the death but Russell denied Titans a strong finish, taking three wickets in his final two overs.Russell walked in to bat with Knights at 54 for 4 in the ninth over and went on to smash seven sixes and four fours in his 66. Lungi Ngidi and Tabraiz Shamsi suffered the brunt of Russell’s attack, and conceded 32 and 42 runs respectively. His charge helped Knights chase down the target by the 16th over.

They have lost eight out of the 10 T20I deciders

Firdose Moonda02-Jul-2021

Big picture

A grand finale will close the first series of West Indies’ home summer and they will be itching for silverware, especially after losing the Test series 2-0. West Indies have held the lead, then fallen behind and then drawn level to lock this five-match series at 2-2, and create the kind of pressure South African teams (and their opposition) dream of.South Africa have lost eight out of the 10 deciders they have played in, only beating New Zealand home and away in 2012. Can they take a turn for the better here?There’s another reason why this finale is important for the visitors: they are on a five-series losing streak in the format. With just two series left to play (in Ireland and Sri Lanka( before the T20 World Cup this October, they need to find form.There are still a lot of eyes on Mark Boucher and his management team following their limited success over the 20 months they’ve been in charge. Though one result isn’t going to change things drastically, a trophy will make a big difference.Win or lose, South Africa will still have combination concerns, especially around the length of their batting line-up and the composition of their attack. Their specialist-heavily XI has left them short in both departments and they may have to cast the net wider to the allrounders.West Indies do not tend to place as much weight on bilateral series, because they often only have their best players all available for major tournaments. This time around, though, they’re near full-strength. The superstars have come out and shone to a degree but West Indies will know if they can get all the heavyweights firing together, they will have the makings of a side that could dominate any opposition.This will also be Grenada’s last hurrah of the international season and it has shown itself to be an excellent venue of the format after hosting just one T20I before this series. The pitches have been fairly challenging for batters, with good bounce on offer and slightly tacky surfaces, and have suited bowlers who have been able to adjust to taking pace off the ball while the spinners have prospered. Given that T20I cricket is a game of adaptability, St George’s has provided an interesting test of skill.

Form guide (last five completed matches, most recent first)

West Indies WLLWW
South Africa LWWLL

In the spotlight

Talk of the West Indies’ veterans often centre around Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo but Fidel Edwards merits to be in the same category. Edwards is 39 and has made his comeback after six years as a Kolpak exile (South Africa, are you watching?) and got particular praise from Bravo for opening the bowling with an “aggression that has sometimes been missing.” Edwards only bowled two overs, and they were fairly expensive, and it’s too early to tell exactly how much he will add to the West Indian pack but with experience in England, the ability to swing the ball and longevity on his side, he is definitely one to watch.South Africa have anointed David Miller as their finisher, a job captain Temba Bavuma says the left-hander has done “for many years,” though the current numbers do not reflect that. Miller has scored 34 runs in four innings in this series and that is not for lack of time in the middle. Miller has been in in the 11th over twice, and in the 15th over once and has been out going for the big shot on each occasion. What’s evident is that Miller knows he needs to clear the boundary but he has only managed one six in the series so far and South Africa will want plenty more.Can David Miller turn around an ordinary series?•Getty Images

Team news


The lengthening of the batting line-up through the inclusion of both Chris Gayle and Shimron Hetmyer worked well for West Indies, so they may choose to go that way again, at the expense of Jason Holder, who was not in the 13 named for this game. Left-arm spinner Fabian Allen is unavailable after injuring his shoulder on Thursday, which could hand Akeal Hosein a debut. West Indies have also included left-arm pacer Sheldon Cottrell in the 13, for the first time in the series.West Indies (probable): 1 Lendl Simmons, 2 Evin Lewis
3 Chris Gayle, 4 Shimron Hetmyer, 5 Kieron Pollard (capt), 6 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 7 Andre Russell, 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Akeal Hosein 10 Fidel Edwards 11 Obed McCoySouth Africa will likely want to give Aiden Markram another opportunity in the middle-order. They also seem comfortable with him as the sixth-bowling option, which could mean no opportunity for Kyle Verreynne on this tour. Lizaad Williams may get luckier, especially if Anrich Nortje does not recover from bruising on his left knee in time to play this match. Even if Nortje does, Williams may displace Lungi Ngidi, who has been expensive thus far. Sisanda Magala, who may have come into contention, has an ankle niggle and is unavailable for selection.South Africa (possible): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Reeza Hendricks, 3 Temba Bavuma (capt), 4 Rassie van der Dussen, 5 Aiden Markram, 6 David Miller, 7 George Linde, 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Anrich Nortje/Lizaad Williams, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi

Pitch and conditions

Tropical storm Elsa brought rain to Grenada for parts of Thursday and Friday and may linger into Saturday but the forecast for the afternoon looks relatively clear. There’s a small chance – under 25% – of rain during the match. Heavy showers may weigh the outfield down and could also affect the pace of the pitch. Markram said he noticed the wicket had slowed up a bit in the fourth match after the previous three games.

Stats and trivia

• Both teams’ opening pairs have done reasonably well in this series, with West Indies’ top two averaging 49.50 and South Africa 39.00, but their middle orders have struggled. West India No.3-7 average 19.35 and South Africa’s 14.47.
• Chris Gayle is 57 runs away from 14,000 in T20 cricket.If Lungi Ngidi concedes another 35 runs, he will become the first bowler in T20Is to concede 200 runs in a bilateral series.

Quotes “We had a long discussion last night about what it means to represent West Indies, what it means to be two-time World Champions and to keep playing the game with passion and pride.”
Dwayne Bravo reveals how West Indies dug deep to mentally prepare themselves for levelling the series 2-all in the fourth match. “The way we lost the game wasn’t about us batting first or second. From a bowling front, we conceded a 20-runs in the first over and upfront, that puts you under pressure and then to finish off the bowling innings like that – it doesn’t matter if you are bowling first or second. And then batters didn’t pitch up.”
Temba Bavuma is not convinced there is an advantage to setting a target or chasing in this series and was critical of his team’s overall performance in the fourth match.

Assam continued their excellent run, having earned promotion this year, by beating table-toppers Delhi by five wickets in Guwahati. There were only 95 runs away overnight and most of those were knocked over by Arun Karthik (55*), who struck his second fifty of the match. Opener Rahul Hazarika (59) joined him, and those two were the only batsmen to reach the mark in the entire match. Delhi lost all 10 wickets for fewer than 200 in both innings, which proved their undoing. Assam have now vaulted into second place in Group A. With three wins in six games, they are on 22 points, only two behind Delhi’s 24.Vidarbha 247 (Sarwate 50, Tanveer ul Haq 4-60) and 199 for 2 (Badrinath 70*, Satish 61*) beat Rajasthan 216 (Puneed 67, Dobal 51, Umesh 4-45) and 226 (Menaria 76, Saxena 54, Sarwate 5-58) by eight wickets
ScorecardAditya Sarwate, the 25-year old left-arm spinner, is having a fabulous debut season in the Ranji Trophy. His second first-class five-for now takes him to 25 wickets in four games and has also set up Vidarbha’s third win of the season. A target of 199 became a formality with Ganesh Satish (61*) and captain S Badrinath (70*) and hitting unbeaten half-centuries.Sarwate needed only one ball on the fifth day to wrap up Rajasthan’s second innings on their overnight score of 226. He finished with 5 for 58, to finish with seven wickets in the match. Besides him, Umesh Yadav had taken a hat-trick in the first innings.Early wickets were necessary for Rajasthan to pose a challenge to a line-up that features three of the best professionals in the Ranji circuit. Although Wasim Jaffer did not bat, Satish and Badrinath combined for an unbeaten 127 runs for the third wicket to seal the game and consolidate Vidarbha’s place at three on the Group A points table. They have 22 points from seven, same as Assam, who have played only six.
ScorecardHaryana held on for 103 overs in Lahli thanks to Chaitanya Bishnoi’s unbeaten 86 off 259 balls, but the 250 for 4 that they ended up with while following-on was still not enough to match match Odisha’s 529 for 6 declared. Chances of an outright win were high for the visitors, especially after a Virender Sehwag-less Haryana were bowled out for 216 in the first innings in 85.5 overs. But their batting was able to show greater resolve to deny Odisha a second win of the season. Haryana themselves have not had any victories so far and both teams are stuck in the bottom half of the table.Bishnoi, the 21-year old playing his first season of Ranji Trophy, was the common thread that connected three solid partnerships. He added 86 runs in 36.5 overs with Nitin Saini (64), 75 runs with Rohit Sharma (42) in 30.5 overs, 44 runs with Sachin Rana in 18.5 overs and an unbeaten 30 runs with Priyank Tehlan in 11.5 overs to guide his team to relative safety. And clearly, Odisha’s bowlers could not summon the finishing blow: Dhiraj Singh, Suryakant Pradhan and Basant Mohanty bowled 73 overs for only four wickets.
ScorecardThe game eventually petered out into a race for the first innings lead, and Maharashtra who had come into the final day on 290 for 3 did have an opportunity to run down Bengal’s 528 for 9 declared, but were unable to do so. They were reliant on the overnight pair of Rahul Tripathi’s (132 off275 balls) and Ankit Bawne (65 off 143 balls) but once that 156-run partnership for the fourth wicket was broken, Bengal took control.Bawne was bowled by Veer Pratap Singh and the score became 313 for 4. Tripathi fell 16 runs later, then Maharashtra lost their sixth, seventh and eighth wickets for only 11 runs and finally were eventually all out for 406. Pragyan Ojha took 3 for 71. Ashok Dinda, Mukesh Kumar and Aamir Gani picked up two wickets each. Bengal then played out 33 overs with Abhimanyu Easwaran securing his second fifty of the match.

Azhar Ali made his second century in two innings as they eased to 363 for 5 while Misbah-ul-Haq spent useful time in the middle albeit against a weakened Sussex attack

Andrew McGlashan at Hove08-Jul-2016
ScorecardThis was a gentle day by the seaside for the Pakistanis. Azhar Ali made his second century in two innings as they eased to 363 for 5 while Misbah-ul-Haq spent useful time in the middle albeit against a weakened Sussex attack.Azhar, who reached his hundred from 205 balls, and Younis Khan added 125 for the third wicket. Azhar then put on a further 146 with Misbah; their three-figure stand came up when the Pakistan Test vice-captain swept a six over the roof of the pavilion at square-leg. The over-rate for the day was so good that the innings was only one short of the mandatory 100 overs by stumps.Sussex had only returned home at 3am following last night’s T20 match against Glamorgan in Cardiff, so the five players from that fixture who were named in this XI could be forgiven for being a touch bleary-eyed.One of those who did not make the trek to Wales and back was debutant Jofra Archer, a former West Indies Under-19 allrounder with a British passport who is aiming to secure a full-time contract with Sussex, and he enjoyed a memorable first day in first-class cricket, finishing with 4 for 49 in a wholehearted display of nippy seam bowling. “I hope I’ve put my foot in the door,” he said. “The coach said just enjoy it, but I was a bit nervous.”A telling part of the day came early on and reinforced that England will view Pakistan’s opening pair as a weak link to target. Shan Masood became Archer’s maiden first-class wicket when he struck with his 11th ball, finding a touch of extra bounce as he slanted the ball across the batsman to take the outside edge.Archer’s morning got better when he trapped Mohammad Hafeez, who had been dropped on 15, playing across a full delivery. This meant that Hafeez’s first three innings on the tour had failed to produce a substantial score or substantial time in the middle.Pakistan would have been 53 for 3 had Azhar been taken low at second slip by Harry Finch, the drop denying club debutant, Abidine Sakande, a wicket. It was not, though, a day without good news for Sakande, who found out he had achieved a 2:1 in a Human Science degree from Oxford University.Younis escaped an inside edge past the stumps off Ajmal Shahzad before reaching double figures, but he and Azhar soon settled against bowling that, from the seamers other than Archer, veered far too frequently into the pads.A lapse in concentration, or the feeling that enough was enough, appeared the likely route to a wicket and so it proved during the afternoon session when Younis advanced at Danny Briggs but only picked out mid-off.During their innings, Younis and Azhar both passed milestones: 16,000 and 8,000 first-class runs respectively. That the junior partner has half felt quite apt; sooner rather than later the baton will be passed as the fulcrum of Pakistan’s batting.Azhar’s average outside of Asia is 28.70 compared with 52.36 in UAE, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh combined but he has the defensive technique to withstand England’s bowlers. This is a tour for him to cement his senior standing in the batting order in conditions he has found less comfortable.He was dropped again on 57 at deep mid-off, then on 72 an outside edge ran fine of first slip. He eventually brought up his century after tea with his 16th boundary from 205 balls.Misbah was not entirely convincing to begin with but in the final session settled into his familiar block-and-bash mode against the spinners as Briggs and Will Beer operated in tandem. He skewed one lofted shot against Briggs over mid-off then started to pick off Beer: it was a shame a young legspinner only bowled seven overs in the day, they have to bowl to learn. Misbah’s fifty came off 65 balls when he swept Briggs for his ninth four. Moeen Ali will be in for a challenge if he has to bowl extended spells during the series.Sussex took the new ball as soon as it became available and in the fourth over, Archer claimed his third wicket of the day when Misbah padded up to a ball that would have taken off stump. Archer struck again when Azhar was late on a pull and was taken by the keeper. It is the mark of a promising bowler when his last spell of the day can be as good as the first.

Says he is in the “happiest phase” of his life and is “batting well” despite the numbers not showing as much

ESPNcricinfo staff19-May-20226:02

Shastri: ‘Difficult for an all-format player to maintain form, hunger and passion’

Virat Kohli is open to the idea of taking a break from cricket to “rejuvenate” himself mentally and get himself out of the lean patch he has been going through of late. At the same time, Kohli said he was going through the “happiest phase” of his life and he was “batting well” despite struggling for consistent starts across formats. Winning the Asia Cup and T20 World Cup were his two main goals for 2022, he said.Kohli, 33, last scored a century in any format in November 2019 and currently averages 21.45 in the ongoing IPL – his lowest in the tournament since 2008, when he averaged 15. His strike rate of 113.46 this season is also well below his overall IPL strike rate of 129.26 and his lowest in the tournament since 2012, when it was 111.65.While there have been many voices raising concerns over Kohli’s batting struggles, it was former India head coach Ravi Shastri who first said the former India captain was “overcooked” and suggested he go on a break.Kohli said he had heard Shastri’s words and agreed that a break was a “healthy” option for him especially as he has been moving around on cricket’s conveyor belt for more than a decade, including a significant amount of time as a captain.Kohli said he would “definitely discuss” it with the Indian team management, including head coach Rahul Dravid.Related

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“It’s not a lot of people who mentioned it (taking a break),” Kohli told in an interview. “There is one person precisely who has mentioned it which is Ravi and that’s because he has seen from close quarters over the last six-seven years the reality of the situation that I have been in. The amount of cricket that I have played and the ups and downs and the toll that it takes on you to play three formats of the game plus the IPL for 10-11 years non-stop with the seven years of captaincy in between…”Last year after Ben Stokes became the first high-profile cricketer to take an indefinite break to recoup from the pressure of operating inside a biosecure environment thrust on cricket due the pandemic, Kohli supported the England allrounder’s decision calling it “refreshing” and “necessary”.Kohli said a break, if he took that option, could allow him a “mental reset”, which was needed to perform at the highest level. “It is definitely a thing that one needs to consider because you don’t want to do something which you are not a part of 100% and I have always believed in that in my life. So to take a break and when to take a break is obviously something that I need to take a call on, but it is only a healthy decision for anyone to take some time off and just rejuvenate yourself mentally and physically. Not so much physically because physical fitness you keep up with through the course of playing cricket all the time, but it is a mental kind of reset that you need, and you want to be excited for what you are doing. You don’t want to feel like you have been forcing yourself into any situation.”So I don’t think there is anything wrong in that. It’s a very healthy thing to think of especially with the amount of cricket that we play nowadays and the amount of cricket that I have played in the last 10-11 years as I mentioned. It’s only a thing of creating a balance and finding that balance which is right for you as an individual moving forward and I’ll definitely discuss this with all the people involved – Rahul , the Indian team management, everyone to chart out whatever is best for myself and for the team definitely.”“Want to learn from current phase”
Kohli said his struggles in the IPL are dissimilar to 2014 – when his technique was exposed by James Anderson on the tour of England, which he finished with an average of 13.40 in 10 innings – as there is no pattern to his dismissals. He has been caught at different positions seven times, bowled twice, lbw once and even run out twice. The only thing that tells a story is his low scores: he has been dismissed for under 10 runs on six occasions so far, including three golden ducks.”I am not looking to put this phase behind me, to be honest,” Kohli said. “What happened in England was a pattern so something that I could work on, something that I had to overcome. Right now, there is nothing that you can point out saying there is a problem here. So that for me is an easier thing to process because I know that I’m batting well and at times when I start feeling that rhythm back then I know I am batting well, which wasn’t the case in England [where] I didn’t feel like I was batting well at all. So I had to work hard on one thing that I could be exposed to again and again which I overcame. Right now, that’s not the case. I know where my game stands and you cannot come this far in your international career without having the ability to counter the situations and counter conditions and counter different kinds of bowling.”So this phase for me is the easier phase to process but I don’t want to put this behind me. I want to learn from it and understand that what are the core values that I have as a sports person and as a human being. As long as I’m ticking those boxes… I know these are ups and downs and when I come out of this phase I know how consistent I can be. I know how motivated I will be once the scores start coming to make sure it’s one after the another. I know that I have that drive in me to go back to back to back, which motivates me more as I mentioned in contributing towards my team’s cause and making my team win. So these things drive me and propel me way more than the setbacks that I have.”I am very aware of what’s going on and I am absolutely, as I said, at ease with myself. And very, very confident about the fact that I will keep getting more and more balanced as a human being. Eventually that’s what I want to get out of all these experiences because there is so much life beyond this that we don’t understand the value, the true value of finding this balance.”I am not sitting in a position where I am desperate to prove anything to anyone. For me God’s been so kind and I’m only grateful for everything that has been blessed upon me for over so many years. So much love I am getting from people, so many wishes. It is showing me another side of things that I probably haven’t experienced first-hand before because I was so lost in what I was doing all the time. So I’m feeling more grateful and more grounded with the fact that I have been able to have all these experiences as a normal person.”Virat Kohli has had a forgettable IPL season so far•BCCI

“I care for my own well-being way more than I would have in the past”
Kohli also stressed that he will not be bogged down by his performance on the field because he has started to value his “well-being” more.”My experiences are sacred to me – whatever I have experienced in this phase or in the past as well. One thing that I can vouch for is that I have never valued myself more as a person. Because I’m experiencing now that there is a big sense of identity that is created by the world for you, which is far more different, so far away from the reality of you as a human being. So I am experiencing now that I value myself and I care for my own well-being way more than I would have in the past. And actually, contrary to a lot of belief or a lot of perceptions as I mentioned on the outside, I’m actually in the happiest phase of my life.”I am not finding any self-worth or value on what I do on the field. I’m way past that phase. This is a phase of evolution for me. Not to say that I don’t have the same drive, my drive will never die down. The day my drive goes away I will not be playing this game, but to understand that some things are not controllable. The only controllables you have are the things that you can work towards which is working hard on the field and in life as well. And from that point of view, I feel more balanced that I have ever been.”And I am happy with who I am and how I am leading my life. If I start valuing myself with my [on-field] achievements then these achievements are not going to be possible after a stage where I stop playing the game anyways, so where will I get that validation from? So I have started to value myself way more as a person and I’m not finding any source of encouragement or disappointment by what happens on the field. In the heat of the moment, in that moment, because you are a competitive sportsman and it is your profession, it is something that you prepare very well for, you feel disappointed when you are not able to contribute to the team’s cause as much as much as you want to.”[But] this is not about myself. This is about the fact that I have not contributed to my team’s cause as much as I would have wanted to, or I pride myself on.”“Want to win India the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup”
Despite the turbulent run of form, Kohli found time to joke about his batting struggles during a separate chat on with former India team-mate Harbhajan Singh. “Jos Buttler came to me, after the Rajasthan Royals match and said, ‘I want to ask you something’, and I told him that you’re wearing the orange cap what do you want to ask me, I am not able to make runs – and we had a laugh about it,” Kohli told Harbhajan.Asked by Harbhajan what his goals were after the IPL, Kohli said he was focused on making India win two big titles this year.”I want to win India the Asia Cup and the [T20] World Cup; that’s the motivation,” he said. “I have to move forward maintaining a balance, get some rest, some rejuvenation, once I’m in the mindset then there’s no looking back and [it’s] great fun. My main aim is to help India win the Asia Cup and the World Cup and for that I am ready to do anything for the team.”