Kohli’s arrival in the middle was cheered by crowd after Rohit Sharma's dismissal.
Indian batting stalwart Virat Kohli opened up on the fans' craze for him during the first ODI against New Zealand in Vadodara on Sunday (January 11), and compared the situation to the one MS Dhoni faces in the IPL.
Kohli’s arrival in the middle during India’s chase was cheered by crowd inside the BCA stadium. The moment unfolded in the ninth over just after Rohit Sharma was dismissed and made his way back to the pavilion.
It resembled the scene from a CSK match when the fans made loud noises on Dhoni's entry despite the fact that the team lost a wicket. It was something that irked former CSK all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who had openly expressed his disappointment with fans’ antics.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Kohli minced no words as he said he wasn't a fan of this unique treatment from the spectators.
"Well, no. I am aware of it, I don't feel good about it. Same thing happens with MS as well. I don't think it is a good feeling for the guy going out. I do understand the fans getting excited. I don't think too much about it," Kohli stated.
“Well, again, as I said. I feel grateful. It is a blessing that you can do what you have always dreamt of doing as a kid and it brings a lot of joy to the faces of so many people," he added.
Coming to the match, Virat Kohli starred with the bat in India’s four-wicket victory over New Zealand in Vadodara.
Chasing 301 to win, the Men in Blue lost Rohit Sharma for 26 runs but Kohli added 118 runs for the second wicket with skipper Shubman Gill to put the hosts in driver’s seat.
While Gill fell after scoring 56 off 71 balls, Kohli nearly went on to hit his 54th ODI century en route to his 77-run partnership with Shreyas Iyer (49 off 47).
Kohli was dismissed on 93 by Kyle Jamieson in the 40th over. His 91-ball knock was studded with 8 fours and 1 six. During the innings, he also scaled 28,000 runs across all formats and became the second-highest run-getter in international cricket, surpassing Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara.
After Kohli and Iyer’s dismissals in quick succession, KL Rahul (29* off 21) and Harshit Rana (29 off 23) chipped in with handy contributions to take India over the line with an over to spare.
The second ODI will be held in Rajkot on Wednesday (January 14).