Kohli Explains the Reason Behind His Approach En Route Record 49th ODI Century
The 'chase-master' of team India, Virat Kohli, donned a different hat in the Cricket World Cup 2023 match against South Africa on Sunday, scoring a world record-equalling 49th ODI century while the team opted to bat first. The 121-ball 101 of Kohli helped the team post 326 runs on the board, a total that was more than enough on a tricky pitch. However, not everyone was happy with the pace with which Kohli scored runs, especially considering how the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, and Suryakumar Yadav played. During the innings break, Kohli explained the reason behind his approach.
After equalizing Tendulkar's ODI century record, Virat spoke to the broadcaster, where he explained how tricky the wicket is.
Kohli revealed, "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.”
He also said that “Shreyas played well, and we got a few more runs towards the end. We had a lot of chats during the Asia Cup; we batted 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.”