Hyderabad, Dec 7: India skipper Virat Kohli, who guided the Men in Blue to their highest-ever T20I chase in the first match against the West Indies, believes while its important for players to play hard, aggressive cricket, what's more important is the need to respect the opponents.
On Friday night, Kohli thoroughly entertained the crowd at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium as he bettered his personal best and played an unbeaten knock of 94 to help India chase down the 208-run target set by the West Indies with six wickets in hand.
During the course of his 50-ball inning, the 31-year-old displayed an array of emotions. He was seen getting into duels, complaining to the umpire, cursing himself and imitating opponent bowlers after smashing them for sixes.
However, what mattered for the hosts was that the premier batsman stayed at the crease until the end and made sure they chase down the target to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
During the course of his innings, Kohli had a run-in with West Indies pacer Kesrick Williams on many occasions.
In the 13th over, Kohli and Williams almost collided in the middle of the pitch, as the bowler went for the ball and the batsman went for a single. The Indian skipper complained to the umpire immediately. Williams raised his hands in apology straightaway too.
The duel exploded in Williams's next over when Kohli flicked a ball for a six on the leg side. After playing that shot, the 31-year-old Indian actress brought out the notebook celebration, making the Hyderabad crowd go wild, as Williams looked on in amusement.
After the match, Kohli revealed that the two have a bit of history from a 2017 match.
"No, it is not the CPL. It happened to me in Jamaica when he got me out so I thought I would tick a few in the notebook as well but all good, smiles out there, in the end, that's what you want to see, good competitive cricket but at the end of the day we shake hands, that's what cricket is all about, play hard but at the end have respect for your opponents," the Indian captain said at the post-match ceremony.
Williams had given Kohli his famous 'notebook-style' goodbye after taking his wicket in 2017 and the Indian skipper had clearly not forgotten about that.
After the match, Kohli also posted some of the pictures from the first T20I along on Instagram with the caption: "Good way to start the series. Lots of positives to take from today's win."
The two teams will take on each other in the second T20I to be played on Sunday in Thiruvananthapuram.