It might come as a surprise to many, but Virat Kohli was not heartbroken to lose the 2023 ODI World Cup final to Australia. As much as the defeat hurt Indian cricket fans, Kohli said cricket has left him heartbroken only twice, and in the same year: 2016.
T20 World Cup and IPL 2016
Virat Kohli had a harrowing 2016. First, India lost to West Indies in the T20 World Cup semi-final that year. Then Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bengaluru were pipped by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2016 final in front of the home crowd.
“I’ve had two heartbreaks in cricket so far and it happened in the same year. In 2016. In the T20 World Cup 2016, I was feeling I could do it come what may. I was drained the next day (after losing to West Indies in the semi-final), it was hard on me,” Kohli said in a conversation on Jio Cinema.
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“Then we lost the IPL final in Bengaluru. I felt like that was written in the stars. We were chasing 208 and we were 100 for no loss after 9 overs. When AB (De Villiers) got out, we needed 68 of 42 balls. If you look at cricket today, there’s no way to lose that game. The heartbreaking part was when we returned to our hotel, the lobby was fully set up for an after-party. Everything was set up, but there were only 4 people sitting. We were so heartbroken that nobody came down,” Kohli added.
Losing is a harrowing experience for any athlete but for a serial winner like Kohli, losing twice in two finals in the same year must have been difficult.
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