T20 WC brand ambassador Yuvraj backs Rohit & Virat in squad
Karthik started the last T20 World Cup in Australia as India’s designated keeper before losing his spot ahead of the team’s semifinal defeat to England.
Virat Kohli slammed his 49th ODI ton against South Africa at the famous Eden Gardens cricket stadium in Kolkata on Sunday. With that, Kohli equaled cricket great Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most ODI hundreds. Kohli is now one century away from breaking Sachin’s record. of 49 ODI hundreds.
It was a special innings from Kohli as it also came on the occasion of his 35th birthday. Kohli scored 101 off 121 balls and he took 277 innings to reach the milestone. With the help of Kohli’s hundred, India finished the innings at 326/5.
Speaking about getting a hundred on his birthday during the innings break, Kohli said, “It’s 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.”
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in Kolkata for the Birthday Boy!
From scoring his Maiden century in Kolkata to scoring his 4⃣9⃣th ODI Ton %5Etfw”>#TeamIndia | #CWC23 | #MenInBlue | #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/pA28TGI4uv
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 5, 2023
Kohli said that the pitch was tricky to bat on and lauded the efforts of skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, who provided India with a decent start.
“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. I’m grateful to god for giving me the chance to play and contribute to the team’s success,” he added.
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