Kohli hundred eases the hurt of Hyderabad

Virat Kohli did not have a T20 hundred for 192 games. Anticipation that it was within his grasp built over 13 T20s in 2016, leading into the IPL, when he scored 625 runs at an average of 125. It came in the fifth game of the season, a last-ball sliced boundary off Dwayne Bravo providing his breakthrough innings against Gujarat Lions.

Yet, there wasn't much reason for joy. Royal Challengers Bangalore were languishing one off the bottom with two wins in seven games. They remain in penultimate spot, but on a balmy Saturday evening, as Kohli notched up his second T20 century in a match-winning knock, he had again lifted his team.

Kohli played down how much a T20 hundred meant to him. "Not that I was desperate to get one, but last time I felt like it was something I hadn't achieved," he said. "But I didn't have control over my game because we were batting first there.

"This 100, I didn't plan to get a 100, as I said in the last game. I never looked at my score in the scoreboard, all I looked at was how many runs and balls are there… how many runs we need to score, in which over. In that process, if you get a milestone like that it feels sweet. But in an hour, or a couple of hours, when I realise what happened, then it'll feel far sweeter."

Defeat in the last game to Kolkata Knight Riders had sharpened Kohli's sense that a victory was especially necessary to provide a lift.

"The ultimate target was the victory because of how hurt we were after the last game," he said. "We needed a victory like this to pull ourselves up again, especially the kind of day we had in the field. It's very easy to lose your cool, get carry away and get frustrated. You rather take that frustration and be determined to put in that 20 per cent extra."

In this season, 27 out of 36 matches have been won by the chasing side. M. Chinnaswamy Stadium's small dimensions make it a particularly favourable chasing ground, but Kohli had lost three tosses at home this season, which resulted in two losses.

"We had the chance to chase one down, and I backed myself to go for the target and make sure I'm there in the end and win the game for the team. In Hyderabad, I couldn't do that, I was very disappointed," Kohli said.

"If you want your team to do a certain thing, you have to go out there first and do it in front of them to convince them that this is the direction you need to go in. I failed to do that In Hyderabad and that hurt me a lot.

"It's about understanding what line the bowlers are trying to bowl at you. You need to get into the bowler's head. You have to back yourself to know if a ball is full enough, you can pierce long-off and covers. Doesn't matter how much the gap is between them, even if its 20 metres, you need to hit it well enough. All about being absolutely convinced that you can get the result you want. If you are half-hearted, then the ball actually never goes for a boundary."

Kohli was quick to give credit to cameos from KL Rahul and Shane Watson which helped Royal Challengers set the platform they required to achieve the target of 192.

"You can't do it all by yourself. Contributions from KL, Watto gave us the right kind of momentum to us through the middle, even after AB got out. Those things matter a lot. Sometimes we neglect those because one gets a milestone."