It was an ideal setting for Kohli to equal his idol, the iconic Sachin Tendulkar’s record on his 35th birthday after missing the magic three-figure mark earlier in the showpiece.
Kolkata: Virat Kohli’s 49th ton of his ODI career, an unbeaten 101, helped India post a mammoth total of 326/5 in 50 overs in the ICC ODI World Cup against South Africa at the Eden Gardens, here on Sunday.
It was an ideal setting for Kohli to equal his idol, the iconic Sachin Tendulkar’s record on his 35th birthday after missing the magic three-figure mark earlier in the showpiece.
He was dismissed for 95 and 88 against New Zealand and Sri Lanka but the Indian run-machine did not disappoint the ecstatic Eden full house on Sunday.
The monkey was finally off his back in the 49th over when Kohli gently pushed Kagiso Rabada for a single. It came off 119 balls with 10 fours, that summed up how Kohli toiled hard for the milestone.
At the mid-innings break Kohli told that he was grateful to God for giving him the chance to contribute to the team’s success and it was a great feeling for him to get a hundred on his birthday.
”I’m grateful to god for giving me the chance to play and contribute to the team’s success. It’s great to get a hundred on my birthday in front of this big crowd at this great venue”, Kohli told to tournament broadcasters.
”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, Shreyas played well and we got a few more runs towards the end. We 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. 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 further added.