Everytime we woke up, it was painful: Virat Kohli reflects on painful World Cup exit

Virat Kohli's Indian cricket team had a wonderful ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 campaign. The team had lost only one out of nine games and the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were batting brilliantly along with KL Rahul. The bowling was operating like a well-oiled machine. India were favourites to lift the title but in the semi-final against New Zealand, their top order collapsed and despite fighting fifties from MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja, India crashed out of the tournament in painful circumstances by 18 runs. All their hopes of World Cup glory were quashed and they were left licking their wounds. Ahead of the first Twenty20 International against West Indies, Kohli has reflected the pain of the exit from the tournament.

"The first few days after we exited the World Cup were quite difficult. Till the time the tournament got over, every time we woke up it was the worst feeling in the morning. Then through the day, you do things and sort of getting on with your life. We are professionals. We move ahead. Every team has to move on. So we are quite okay with what happened in the World Cup," Kohli said.

With the World Cup now over, it is now a chance for India to focus on the other major event, which is the World T20 which will be held in Australia next year. With MS Dhoni rested for the entire tour, it gives Rishabh Pant the opportunity to unleash his potential in all three formats as the first-choice wicketkeeper. "It's a great opportunity for someone like Rishabh Pant to really play a lot of international cricket, show his credentials, really unleash his potential at this stage. We know how much ability he has and we all want him to become a consistent performer for the Indian cricket team. MS Dhoni's experience is always going to be a very crucial factor but having said that some of these younger guys have a great opportunity ahead of them and they should just look forward to it," Kohli said.

With the matches taking place in the United States, Kohli is all for having more games at the venue. "For now I think it's all about creating that buzz and just getting people in to watch the games. The more we come here and play, obviously the game is going to get more and more buzz around it, people are going to talk about it. You see 15,000-20,000 people going to a place to watch something, obviously, it should be important. Hopefully, in years to come, people will have more interest. Local people in America as well, not just the Asian community or the West Indian community but the whole community, in general, will have more interest in the sport. I think T20 cricket is something that can be understood and accepted in the American culture because of the length of the game and it's quite entertaining as well. So I think for the sport to become global in many ways, a lot of interest here will go a long way in achieving that for the sport," Kohli said.

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HIGHLIGHTS

• India will play two Tests, three ODIs and Twenty20 Internationals.
• India lost in the semi-final of 2019 World Cup to New Zealand.
• India has won only one Twenty20 International against West Indies in Florida.