Always try to motivate myself, but it looks nice only when it comes off: Kohli

Indian captain Virat Kohli says he always tries to create a motivation for himself whenever he is playing, irrespective of the opposition, but it looks "nice" only when it comes off.

"I always try to create a kind of motivation for myself, whoever I am playing against, because it is very important to respect every opposition, and prepare the same wat. I don't try to differentiate at any stage.

"Sometimes things don't come off for you, but I try to stay in the same zone more or less every time when I come on to play," Kohli said on Thursday after his majestic 92 helped India defeat Australia by 50 runs in the second ODI at Eden Gardens to open up a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

"It came off today, so it looked nice. It didn't in Chennai, so it didn't look nice. That's how it goes in the shorter form of the game and at the international level," he said, referring to his dismissal for a duck in the series opener four days back.

Kohli said he knew he had to play a long innings at the Eden Gardens because of the tricky nature of the wicket.

"Today I knew that the wicket is a bit tricky. So I need to stay in there a bit longer perhaps to have a go in setting up a decent total. It was not easy to bat, and the bowling attack is quality as well.

"They don't give you anything, so you have to create shots, and that's something I try to do," he said.

India posted 252 and then bundled out Australia for 202 on Thursday.

--IANS

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