Virat Kohli reveals his biggest fear while batting against Sri Lanka in 2011 World Cup Final

While Virat Kohli was walking-in after Sachin's dismissal in 2011 World Cup final, he was scared and under pressure. Later he played a fine 35 runs inning and balanced the inning with Gautam Gambhir

Virat Kohli is the proud leader of a team which is at the top of the ranking tables in both ODIs and Tests and is currently the No 1 batsman in ODIs and T20Is. This achievement, though, didn’t come easy. It took Kohli 9 long years to reach this feat. The Indian skipper has now become the face of the Indian cricket. His aggressiveness and fitness are unmatched when he is there on the field. Though he is now known as the ‘captain fearless’, there was a time when was scared of Lasith Malinga’s dangerous deliveries.

Recently, while shooting for a TV show with Bollywood star Aamir Khan, Kohli revealed a few interesting and previously unheard of facts about his life, including the one mentioned above. He said,

Mujhe darr lag raha tha Malinga yorker nahi daale (I was afraid of facing Lasith Malinga’s yorker). Already I was nervous! But after 2-3 balls, I settled down.

Virat Kohli was new to the Indian team when he was inducted into the 2011 World Cup squad as it had been just 3 years since he debuted on the international stage. He was in the playing eleven in the final match against Sri Lanka which was played at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on Aprill 2, 2011.

In that world series, Lasith Malinga was in full form and even struck in the 2nd ball of the first over of the Indian inning. He removed Virender Sehwag for a duck and then Sachin Tendulkar while the Indians were chasing a target of 274 runs. Virat stepped in at No 4 after Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed and Team India were reduced to 31/2. Kohli shouldered the responsibility to stabilise the Indian innings.

While batting alongside Gautam Gambhir, Kohli scored a helpful 35 runs and stitched a crucial partnership of 83-runs. Though, as per what he revealed, while he was walking-in after Sachin’s dismissal, he had only one thing in his head and that was fear for Malinga’s bouncer.

The Virat Kohli-led team will host the Lankans in a 3-Test, 3-ODI and 3-T20I series which will begin from November 10.

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