Pune: Indian former captain Virat Kohli's Thursday evening century against Bangladesh has elated his fans while a section of critical fans were upset that the star batter chose to pursue his personal milestone in the World Cup instead of his natural play, here at Maharashtra Cricket Association stadium in Pune.
The latter has been silenced by Kohli's batting partner KL Rahul who was rooted at the non-striker's end. An adamant Rahul who was not for taking singles which will rob of Kohli of his century was beaming with happiness when the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) skipper sent the ball over the boundary rope into stands for his winning shot. There was one more reason for him to be happy as Hardik Pandya's six in the final moments of the India's opening game made Rahul's century opportunity slip through.
Rahul also put the social media murmurs over not taking easily available singles at the fag end of the Indian innings, to rest, with his explanation.
The 34-year-old Kohli notched his 48th ODI century taking India to a comprehensive seven-wicket win over Bangladesh. Finisher Kohli walked back to the pavilion with his unbeaten ton after he hit Nasum Ahmed for a six over mid-wicket to, when India needed only 2 runs to win the game.
When Kohli needed 19 runs to reach his century milestone, India needed as many runs to win the match. Rahul had a quick word with Kohli in the middle and afterwards Kohli began playing unusually not taking available singles. He opted to deal in boundaries and was seen cursing himself when he was finding fielders instead of the boundary rope. He retained strike.
Bangladeshi bowlers indiscipline threatened Kohli's century as extras were being added to the scoreboard.
Umpire Richard Kettleborough did not call a wide when Nasum sent the ball in legside when Kohli was on 97. Kohli prevailed, remained patient and eventually reached his century.
Following the win, Rahul spoke to Star Sports saying that his conversations with Kohli helped the latter loosen up from being hard-headed on winning the game instead of pursuing his milestone.
“He was confused, actually. He said, 'it would not look too nice to not take a single, it is still a World Cup match. It's a big stage, and I don't want to look like I want to get a milestone'. But I said, ‘it is not won but we will still win it quite easily, so if you can get to the milestone, why not. You must try’. And he did that in the end and I wasn't going to run singles!” Rahul revealed.
Now, Kohli is just one century away from equalling the world record of 49 ODI hundreds set by Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar. With this century knock against Bangladesh, he has become the player to amass the fourth most International runs in world cricket history. With his 77th run of the innings, he also completed his 26,000 runs in International Cricket.
With this victory, India maintained their second position in the points table with eight points from four games, winning every match they played in the World Cup 2023 so far, trailing New Zealand on account of Net Run Rate (NRR).
