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‘I fulfilled the promise that I made to myself -- getting Kohli's wicket’
‘I don't get awed by names like Kohli; whoever will come in front of me I will get him out’
‘We had lost the match but on the personal front I had a wonderful match’
Pakistan's maverick paceman Sohail Khan says he has kept the ball with which he took five wickets against India, the biggest of them being Virat Kohli's.
"That ball is in my room," said Sohail, who took 5-52 against India in a lost cause.
"That is my best One-day bowling and I fulfilled the promise that I made to myself -- getting Kohli's wicket."
After gate-crashing the selection, Sohail had promised he would dismiss Kohli.
"I don't get awed by names like Kohli; whoever will come in front of me I will get him out," Sohail had said on February 7.
Till the morning of the naming of the World Cup squad, he was nowhere near selection, but his name came up for discussion and head coach Waqar Younis and captain Misbah-ul-Haq agreed to his selection because of his good showing in the Pentangular Cup in Pakistan. Sohail took ten wickets in two matches.
He said the first night after the World Cup match against India was unforgettable.
"I can never forget that night. There were mixed feelings, we had lost the match, but on the personal front I had a wonderful match.
"I took the ball from the umpires and kept it in my pocket and then under my pillow that night and couldn't sleep because of that," said Sohail.
Sohail also took the prized wicket of AB de Villiers in Pakistan's crucial victory over South Africa in Auckland on Saturday.
"AB's wicket has overtaken that of Kohli, but I couldn't get that ball because my other partners in bowling fared better than me and they deserved that ball more than me.
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"But getting AB out is memorable and will be the best in my career as he s a big name in world cricket; so I will treasure that for whole of my career," added Sohail.
He said Pakistan's bowling has regained its lost venom.
"With the help of coach Waqar bhai we have regained that confidence and we had to live up to his expectations, as he had said before the South Africa game that we are the best bowling attack of this World Cup.
"We have partly proved that by stopping South Africa and now we will go a long way in the tournament if we keep that same hunger, energy and passion."
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