Published: Jun 09, 2016, 11:51 AM (IST)
Edited: Jun 09, 2016, 11:51 AM (IST)
During the entire ICC World T20 2016, there was only one big performer from India’s side and that was none other than Virat Kohli, who was responsible for almost every win for the team in the tournament. He was the most dominating batsman throughout the World T20 2016 and collected 273 runs at a staggering average of 136.50 in just five matches with a strike rate of 146.77. Also Read: Virat Kohli to don a new hat; will sing for AR Rahman
Kohli was second most run-getter of the tournament and in the semi-final match against West Indies; he was once again India’s man-to-go. Kohli scored 47-ball 89 in the game and ensured a good total for his team with 192 runs on board.
If Kohli was the main-man from Indian camp, then Lendl Simmons was West Indies’ trump card as he carried immense experience of playing at Wankhede Stadium gathered during his time with the Mumbai Indians (MI) franchise while playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He played a very crucial knock in that match and during the game, something very interesting, which went unnoticed, happened and Simmons recently spoke about it. Also Read: What makes Virat Kohli fear ‘Bankruptcy’?
As reported by ESPNCricinfo, Simmons got angry while batting during the semi-final match of the tournament as Kohli had said something to him. “When he fielded, he said something to me, and I said to myself, ‘I’m going to show you you’re not the only good batsman. That’s the way he is. He’s very arrogant, he’s very aggressive when he fields, and when he bats as well. He’s just a very aggressive person. Those things motivate our players and it certainly motivated me. That really urged me to bat the way I did – to show him that he’s not the only one who can do it. That played a big role,” said Simmons on Kohli’s behaviour.
Simmons also spoke about his match winning knock of 51-ball 82 and said, “Every cricketer has his day and you just need to cash in when it is your day. I took full opportunity of that to bat until the end. It was mind-blowing doing that with all those people supporting India and being very loud. It was the highlight of my career.”
The 31-year-old Caribbean cricketer also talked about not getting selected in the West Indies One-Day side and quipped, “It’s just foolish. We are available to play but we are not being picked. It’s just a stupid rule that they have. Unless that rule changes, no one will play for the West Indies, because I don’t think anyone is going to give up franchise cricket to play regional cricket when the fees are not suitable enough. A lot of other teams’ players don’t play in their domestic [competitions] but still play for their country. This is not the same for us, but such is life.”
