'Told Dravid I haven't done justice to team': Kohli's frank admission to PM Modi

Reminiscing his T20 World Cup struggle during a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, Virat Kohli admitted that he was low on confidence heading into the final at Barbados on June 29.

Grappling to regain his form, Kohli had scored 75 runs from seven innings and was under tremendous pressure to deliver a big one for India. Though the star batter doubted himself, Captain Rohit Sharma said after the England semifinal that Kohli is probably saving his best for the final, a sentiment echoed by coach Rahul Dravid.

Kohli proved them right and once again chose the big stage to return to form, playing a cracking knock of 76 off 59 balls. Adjudged Player of the Match, he admitted that all this while he did not feel good about himself. His dismissal for 9 in the semi-final against England and subsequent visuals of a sombre-looking Kohli being consoled by Dravid in the dressing room created ripples. But as the luck would have it, Kohli bounced back with his first half-century of the tournament and last of his T20I career just when it mattered the most.

“That day will stay forever in my heart because I couldn't contribute much to the team in the tournament. I even told Rahul Dravid bhai that I haven’t done justice for the team and myself so far. But he told me that when the opportunity arrives, I am sure that you will perform. Even when Rohit and I were going to bat, I told him that I don’t have enough confidence. But when I got three boundaries in the first over, I told him ‘What is happening? One day, I am not getting a single run, and now I’ve got three boundaries in an over’,” Kohli told PM Modi while recalling his experience in the tournament.

“And after we lost three wickets, my only focus was to surrender myself to the team and focus on what's best for the team. I felt that I was thrown into the situation. It's hard to explain the feeling. Some things are bound to happen,” he said.