Batting maestro Virat Kohli was at his best on Thursday night as he scored 103 not out, his 48th ODI century, guiding India to a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in Pune. The chase master rose to the occasion once again for India as the side hunted down the target of 257 runs against Bangladesh in 41.3 overs. It was also India’s fourth consecutive win in the tournament. Shubman Gill (53) and Rohit Sharma (48) also impressed with the bat but Kohli’s century stole the show.
However, after the game, Kohli showed a beautiful gesture that was missed by many.
During the presentation ceremony, Kohli, who won the Player of the Match award against Bangladesh, corrected the presenter when he missed to mention Ravichandran Ashwin’s name and mistakenly called Kohli as one player from India’s 2011 World Cup-winning squad to feature in the 2023 mega event.
“You have won a World Cup before. So you are the one guy in the dressing room knows what it is like,” said presenter.
“And Ash as well. Just the two of us from 2011,” Kohli corrected the presenter quickly.
Watch it here:
Not many people talked about how Kohli corrected that Ashwin is also a paet of this squad who won the 2011 WC. pic.twitter.com/v2fS9U3yCY
— Aditya Saha (@Adityakrsaha) October 19, 2023
The legend of Virat Kohli continued to grow exponentially as he reached within handshaking distance of Sachin Tendulkar’s world record of 49 hundreds during India’s walk-in-the-park seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh in a World Cup game on Thursday.
Kohli, who plans 50-over chases with a precision of a surgeon, remained unbeaten on 103 off 97 balls as India knocked off the 258-run target with as many as 51 balls remaining. India have now make it four wins out of four games and one more win would virtually put them in semi-finals.
While Kohli hit six fours and four sixes, it was his exemplary running between the wickets in pursuit of his 48th hundred that would be etched in the memory for the longest time.
But credit should also go to Ravindra Jadeja (2/38 in 10 overs) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/41 in 10 overs), who were exemplary covering all bases in absence of Hardik Pandya, who hobbled off the field after twisting his left ankle.
(With PTI Inputs)
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