India’s ‘chase-master’ Virat Kohli donned a unique hat within the Cricket World Cup 2023 match towards South Africa on Sunday, scoring a world record-equalling forty ninth ODI century whereas the crew opted to bat first. Kohli’s 121-ball 101 helped the crew submit 326 runs on the board, a complete that was greater than sufficient on a difficult pitch. However, not everybody was proud of the tempo with which Kohli scored runs, particularly contemplating how the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, and Suryakumar Yadav performed. During the innings break, Kohli defined the rationale behind his strategy.

After equalling Tendulkar’s ODI centuries report, Virat spoke to the broadcaster the place he defined how difficult the wicket is. After India misplaced Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, the message from the dressing room was for Kohli to carry one finish and let others bat round him.

“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,” Kohli revealed.

Other than Kohli, Iyer additionally performed a extremely impactful knock, scoring 77 from 87 balls. Virat additionally make clear his partnership with Iyer, having practiced with him on a number of events throughout apply classes.

“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,” he stated.

When requested about his report ton, Kohli stated that he was grateful to have reached the landmark 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. 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 concluded.