Star India batter Virat Kohli starred with a century on his 35th birthday as India defeated South Africa by 243 runs in their Cricket World Cup match in Kolkata on Sunday. Kohli marked the occasion by smashing his 49th ODI century, levelling his former teammate Sachin Tendulkar in the all-time list. Kohli slammed an unbeaten 101 while Shreyas Iyer hit a brilliant 77 as India went on to post a total of 326/5 in 50 overs after captain Rohit Sharma opted to bat.
In reply, South Africa crumbled to 83 all out, with Ravindra Jadeja claiming a five-wicket haul.
During South Africa’s unsuccessful chase, Kohli was seen enjoying himself out in the oufield.
Kohli was seen singing and grooving to the ‘Chaleya’ song from the Shah Rukh Khan starrer ‘Jawaan’ movie.
In the end, Kohli capped off his cameo with the iconic Shah Rukh Khan pose.
Speaking on his knock, Kohli said that the wicket was tricky and his role was to bat deep.
“It was a wicket that was tricky to bat on, we got a great start from Rohit and Shubman, my job was to keep it going on. The ball started gripping and turning after the 10th over, it slowed down and then my role was to bat deep with the others playing around me. That was what was communicated to me by the team management,” said Virat after his innings.
“Shreyas played well and we got a few more runs towards the end. We (He and Iyer) had a lot of chats during the Asia Cup, we bat at 3 and 4, so this was the partnership that was needed to take the game forward. We don’t have Hardik in the team, so we knew a wicket or two could cost us, we had to dig deep and take the match deep.”
“I am grateful to god for giving me the chance to play and contribute to the team’s success. It is great to get a hundred on my birthday in front of this big crowd at this great venue. The pitch is on the slower side, we have a quality bowling line-up as well, but we’ll have to work hard. Wickets will be the key, getting a couple early will put them under pressure with the way this pitch is behaving,” he added.
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