After The 2009 Champions Trophy Match Against Pakistan, I Thought My Career Was Done, Recalls Virat Kohli

India captain, Virat Kohli remembers a time when he thought that his career is over. Kohli takes a memory down the lane back to the 2009 Champions Trophy in South Africa when the right-hander was finding his feet in international cricket.

Kohli talks about a group game against Pakistan at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. Chasing a target of 303, India lost both the openers – Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir – after a steady start. In came Kohli at number 4.

A chase master now, the youngster then fell for a trivial score of 16 to Shahid Afridi, as the men in blue lost the game 54 runs. The 32-year-old at that time felt that his career was over and spent the night pondering over it.

India’s next game was against Australia which was washed out. The MS Dhoni-led side won their last group match against West Indies – Virat Kohli was Man of the Match – but were ousted from the tournament. The Indian captain currently is regarded as the best white-ball batsman ever; he has over 22,000 international runs with 70 hundreds.

“I made my comeback against Pakistan during the 2009 Champions Trophy. I remember getting out on 16 while trying to hit Shahid Afridi over his head for a six and got caught at long-off. We lost the game and till 5 am in the morning, I was looking at the ceiling and thinking I am done and gone,” Virat Kohli said in a YouTube video uploaded on cricket.com.au.

Virat Kohli will miss out from three Test matches against Australia

India lost the ODI series to Australia but bounced back to win the T20I series. The action finally moves to the much-awaited Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. However, the Indian team has suffered a major blow as captain and star batsman, Virat Kohli has pulled out from the last three Test matches.

The 32-year-old will leave for home after the first Test in Adelaide, which commences on 17th December, to attend the birth of his child with his wife and Bollywood actress, Anushka Sharma. His deputy, Ajinkya Rahane will lead the side in his absence for the following Tests in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane.

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