Virat Kohli on 42nd ODI ton: It was my chance to step up

Centurion Virat Kohli says he had to take responsibility after openers departed early in India's win over WI in second ODI at Port-of-Spain

Virat Kohli on 42nd ODI ton: It was my chance to step up

India skipper Virat Kohli en route his 120 during the second ODI against West Indies on Sunday. Pic /AFP

Port-of-Spain: India skipper Virat Kohli said it was his turn to step up and take responsibility after the fall of early wickets in the second ODI against the West Indies, which the visitors won riding on his 42nd hundred in the format.

Kohli took command of the proceedings after the early fall of openers Shikhar Dhawan (2) and Rohit Sharma (18) and smashed 120 to help India post 279-7 in the rain-curtailed game on Sunday. India won by 59 runs via the D/L method.

"We knew that anything over 270 would be challenging. It feels good to get a hundred when the team wanted me to get one," Kohli said after the win which gave the tourists a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

"Shikhar and Rohit didn't get a big one. One of the top three has always got the big one. A senior man had to step up and today was my opportunity to step up. It was important to string in a lot of dot balls," he added.

Kohli had a relatively quiet World Cup and this was his first century since March.

En route, he surpassed former captain Sourav Ganguly to become India's second highest run-getter in ODIs.

The India skipper also shattered a 26-year-old record when he surpassed Pakistan's Javed Miandad for most runs by any batsman in ODIs against the West Indies.

Kohli said it was a good toss to win as the wicket became difficult in the second innings. "Good outing with the bat. Exactly why we wanted to bat first. If you saw the later half of the West Indies innings, it was difficult to bat on. I think the rain in between helped them else it would have been tough to bat in the middle," he said.

Kohli said the number of left-handers in the West Indies team prompted him to play Kuldeep Yadav in place of Yuzvendra Chahal. "The number of left-handers work in favour of Kuldeep and that's why we went in with him rather than Chahal. He is more lethal against the left-handers because of his variations and the lines that he bowls to them," he said "Kedar [Jadhav] was precise as well. With the number of left-handers, you want to go with a chinaman bowler rather than a leggie. With Ravindra Jadeja playing, it helps our balance," Kohli added.

11,406
Total number of runs scored by Virat Kohli in one-dayers, making him the second highest run-getter for India after Sachin Tendulkar (18,426)

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