New Delhi: Virat Kohli said he wanted to counter-attack during India’s 301-run chase rather than play himself in during his 93-run knock against New Zealand in the first ODI in Vadodara on Sunday.

Kohli’s match winning knock enabled him to become the quickest batter to reach 28,000 runs in international cricket and be only behind Sachin Tendulkar in the all-time list.

The 37-year-old crossed 28,000 runs in his 624th innings, by hitting a boundary off leg-spinner Adithya Ashok, taking 20 innings less than Tendulkar while Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, only the third player in the elite run club, took 666th innings.

“Honestly, if we were batting first today, I would have probably gone harder. Because there was a total on the board, I had to kind of buckle down and play the situation. I was feeling like I want to hit more boundaries,” Kohli said.

🗣️ If I look back at my whole journey, it’s nothing short of a dream come true. ✨

🎥 Virat Kohli reflects on his incredible career after becoming the 2⃣nd highest run-getter in men’s international cricket🙌👏#TeamIndia | #INDvNZ | @imVkohli | @idfcfirstbank pic.twitter.com/87BgcZlx4b

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 11, 2026

“The basic idea is I batted at number three, so if the situation is a bit tricky, I backed myself to counter-attack now rather than just trying to play the situation in.

“Because some ball has your name on it. So there’s no point waiting around for too long But at the same time you don’t play outrageous shots, you still stick to your strengths.

But you back yourself enough to put the opposition on the back foot and that’s exactly what happened today when I walked in.

“I just felt like if I push hard now in the first 20 balls, then we can probably string in a partnership straight after a wicket like Rohit’s Where the opposition is gonna go on the back foot and that actually ended up being the difference in the game,” he added.

Mom collects POTM trophies

It was Kohli’s 45th player of the match performance and he sends the trophies to his mother, who lives in Gurgaon.

“Yeah, she likes keeping all the trophies,” he smiled, adding that he is grateful for his amazing journey in cricket.

“Honestly, if I look back at my whole journey, it’s nothing short of a dream come true. I’ve always known my abilities, when I came in and I had to work for a lot more to get to the place I am today,” Kohli said.

“God has blessed me with way too much for me to complain about anything. So I feel nothing but gratitude. I always look back at my whole journey with a lot of grace and a lot of gratitude in my heart and I feel I feel proud about it.

“I feel grateful that I’ve been put in this position. It’s a blessing to be honest. You can give so much happiness to so many people by just doing what you love to do, which is play the sport you’ve always loved as a child.

“What what more can I ask for I’m literally living my dream and making people happy and see smiling faces.”