Batting maestro Virat Kohli has revealed his batting philosophy which rests on putting personal ego aside and playing to the match situation. Kohli cited the example of his partnership with Shreyas Iyer during the Champions Trophy – a tournament that India went on to win unbeaten. Kohli says he takes pride in his game awareness and if the situation demands him to take charge, then he will and not because he wants to overshadow anyone. The former India captain was reflecting on how since his younger days he’s never shied away from taking the lead. “We recently played that Champions Trophy game – if Shreyas is taking charge, then he’s in charge. This was not out of ego then; this is not out of ego now. If at that time, I am in the flow, then I will take the initiative. If someone is playing a different role, he will take initiative. It was never about trying to humiliate anyone or today I feel like I don’t have the ability. It’s always been about understanding the game which is something that I have always had a lot of pride in. I want to play according to the situation,” Kohli said on JioHotstar. Kohli recently became the first ever Indian batter to cross the milestone of 13000 runs in T20 cricket. Having been part of the IPL since its inception in 2008, the former Royal Challengers Bengaluru is currently the leading run-getter in the league’s history. Extolling the influence of IPL, Kohli said the structure of the tournament offers a unique challenge and different scenarios put players under “different kinds of pressure”. “IPL challenges you in a very unique way because of how the tournament is structured,” Kohli said. “It’s not like a short bilateral series, it spans several weeks, and your position on the points table keeps shifting. That constantly changing scenario brings different kinds of pressure. When you are at the top, there’s the pressure to maintain that lead. If you’re near the bottom, you need extra motivation to bounce back. And if you’re somewhere in the middle, where you need to win, say, three out of five games, even a single loss can suddenly add a lot of pressure.” “This dynamic nature of the tournament pushes you mentally and competitively in various ways other formats don’t. It’s also driven me to constantly improve and evolve my T20 skill set,” he added.