Kohli says he is blessed to be able to give so much happiness and smile to so many people

Vadodara, Jan 11 (PTI) India batting stalwart Virat Kohli on Sunday said his spectacular journey so far has been nothing sort of a dream come true as he is able to "give so much happiness and smile to so many people" through his sport.

The 37-year-old Kohli scaled yet another milestone during the first ODI against New Zealand here, as he became the fastest player to reach 28,000 runs across formats in international cricket and the second most prolific scorer behind Sachin Tendulkar.

Playing in his 624th innings, Kohli got to the milestone by hitting a four off New Zealand leg-spinner Adithya Ashok. Tendulkar had reached the landmark during his 644th innings, while Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara, only the third player in the 28000-run club, crossed the feat in his 666th innings.

"Honestly, if I look back at my whole journey, it's nothing short of a dream come true. I've always known my abilities, when I came in and I had to work for a lot more to get to the place I am today.

"God has blessed me with way too much for me to complain about anything. So I feel nothing but gratitude. I always look back at my whole journey with a lot of grace and and a lot of gratitude in my heart and I feel I feel proud about it." Kohli, who was named player of the match, the 45th time in his career, gets adulation of cricket fans wherever he goes and plays.

"I feel grateful that I've been put in this position. It's a blessing to be honest. You can give so much happiness to so many people by just doing what you love to do, which is play the sport you've always loved as a child.

"What what more can I ask for I'm literally living my dream and making people happy and see smiling faces." Asked about Sunday's innings of 91-ball 93 which set up India's win, Kohli said, "If I'm being brutally honest the way I'm playing right now, I'm not thinking about the milestones at all.

"Honestly, if we were batting first today, I would have probably gone harder. Because there was a total on the board, I had to kind of buckle down and and play the situation. I was feeling like I want to hit more boundaries.

Asked if he was getting more aggressive early in his innings recently as compared to earlier part of his career, Kohli said, "The basic idea is I batted at number three, so if the situation is a bit tricky, I backed myself to counter-attack now rather than just trying to play the situation in.

"Because some ball has your name on it. So there's no point waiting around for too long But at the same time you don't play outrageous shots, you still stick to your strengths. But you back yourself enough to put the opposition on the back foot and that's exactly what happened today when I walked in.

"I just felt like if I push hard now in the first 20 balls, then we can probably string in a partnership straight after a wicket like Rohit's Where the opposition is gonna go on the back foot and that actually ended up being the difference in the game." Kohli said he sent his trophies to her mother who stays in Gurgaon.

"Yeah, she likes keeping all the trophies," he said with a smile, when asked whether he needs a room to keep all these awards.

Virat Kohli walked in to bat at the fall of Rohit Sharma’s wicket, receiving a huge cheer from the crowd as the opener headed back to the dressing room.

Asked if he felt a bit disconcerting for the batter who's going back, he said, "I think it's like different timing happens at different games, I am not really aware of it.

"I honestly don't feel good about it if I have to be honest. Same thing happens with MS. I've seen a lot as well. I don't think that it's a good feeling for the guy going out. So I do feel bad about it. I also understand the crowd, gets excited and they get happy.

"So I guess it's part of the game and I try to just focus on what I need to do and not think so much before I go to bat." India captain Shubman Gill acknowledged that at the moment Kohli is making batting look easy.

"It's tough to start on these pitches. Tough to replicate what he does. Hope he keeps piling on runs." "Always feels great to chip in, especially when you're chasing. Staying in the present is most important, esp for athletes. That's what I try to do." PTI PDS PDS ATK