Visakhapatnam: Despite his flamboyant century on Wednesday, Virat Kohli said he cannot take his place for granted in India’s squad for the 2011 World Cup. The Delhi lad’s blistering 118 off 121 balls helped India pull off a convincing five-wicket victory over Australia and go 1-0 up in the three-match ODI series.

Speaking at a press conference, Kohli said it took him time to settle down before launching his big hits.

The following are excerpts

On his innings…

I think you try to learn a lot at the international level… Try to learn from the mistakes. The more matches you play, the more you learn. You tend to fail sometimes. This is part and parcel of the game. You try to do the basics right and prepare hard. That’s in your hands and you can just do that. I’m trying to do that.

If he was satisfied with his knock on Wednesday

It was very satisfying... I didn’t perform well in the last two series… I couldn’t convert my scores into big knocks. There is always a fight for a place in the side. It’s a good sign, and it shows we have a good bench strength. That helps in developing the hunger…

Whether he was confident from the outset…

Honestly, I was struggling at the outset. I hadn’t scored in the past six-seven matches. I was under some pressure, and was not hitting the gaps. So, I decided to stick at the wicket since that gives you a lot of confidence. Thankfully, it worked and things fell into place.

If he thinks his place is assured now

I will not say my place is cemented... I have to keep performing well and play few more good innings. I have to be more consistent. Only then can I think that my place has been cemented.

On his partnership with Yuvraj Singh…

I think to have someone like him at the other end always helps... He has so much experience and takes a lot of pressure off you. I enjoyed that advantage. It was a good partnership and it set the pace for us to smash it in the end.

The overall team performance…

Such great performance against the world No.1 team is very satisfying. The mood in the dressing room is very good. We were slightly ahead in confidence after winning the two-Test series. That confidence got rubbed into the one-day side as well. We wanted to capitalise on that…

On maintaining an all-win record at this ground

I’m really happy that it has happened... I didn’t know about it. Nice that I to could contribute in that.