Virat Kohli recalled the deflating and depressing loss India suffered in the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in Manchester. The match that was played across two days due to rain saw India's batters getting completely blown away by New Zealand's pacers.
New Zealand batted first and posted 238/8, with Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor scoring fifties. New Zealand’s innings was interrupted by rain in the 47th over and resumed on the reserve day. Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up three wickets for India.
India started their chase in overcast conditions, and New Zealand's pacers made full use of the swing available. Kohli, Rohit, and KL Rahul made 1 run each, while Dinesh Karthik made 6. MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja almost rescued India from 92/6 with fifties, but India fell short by 18 runs, scoring 221 runs.
Virat Kohli has described the sadness of the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-final loss for India as a "horrible hangover." Kohli's first and only ODI World Cup as captain took place in 2019. Reminiscent of the devastating loss, Kohli said he was in a complete trance the next morning and had no desire to do anything.
“2019 loss was massive; that was the first time actually, after the semifinals got over, and the next morning we were going to leave Manchester. You know, when you wake up and you have no kind of understanding of what you want to do, like you’re dazed. It was like the feeling you get when you have a horrible hangover. It was like that. Like, I had no idea what I wanted to do, whether I wanted to drink coffee or brush my teeth. Like, what is the next step? Like I was completely gone. I could not make sense of it,” said Kohli in the RCB podcast.
The former captain of India also recalled how India's momentum was hampered by the weather. He said that although it's difficult to accept the situation, one must keep going forward and not give up.
“Everything was fine. We had to play in the afternoon, and it rained, and then we had to come the next morning, early morning conditions, this, that, and the others. I was like, what are the odds, but then again, look at how things unfolded again. So you have to kind of go back into that space of looking at things. You can't get lost in what happened to me, and this is what I'm going through. Maybe it was meant to be that way. You just have to accept things the way they are, of course; accepting is very hard to process—it is very hard, but you have to get to that point, and you have to keep moving,” he added.
Virat Kohli continued as India's captain in limited overs till 2021, when he was removed after the T20 World Cup debacle. Kohli quit as Test captain in 2022 during the South Africa tour.
