Virat Kohli scored 101* against South Africa, his 49th ODI century.
India batter Virat Kohli achieved a huge milestone on his birthday on November 5, 2023, as he equaled Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most ODI tons. Kohli, 35, hit his 49th ODI ton against South Africa in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 in Kolkata.
Kohli’s 101* and Shreyas Iyer’s 77 helped India post 326/5 on tricky pitch in Kolkata and then Ravindra Jadeja picked five wickets as Proteas were bundled out for just 83 runs losing by 243 runs. The Temba Bavuma-led side suffered their biggest loss in ODIs by margin of runs.
After a great start that India got thanks to Rohit Sharma’s 40, 91 runs had been posted in the first 10 overs by Men in Blue. But then India lost a few wickets and Keshav Maharaj was bowling superbly. This meant that Virat Kohli dropped anchor at one end and Shreyas Iyer scored from the other.
Kohli put his head down to notch his fifty off 67 balls after which he reached his three-figure score off 119 deliveries. He was called selfish and slammed by critics and fans online, saying that he played for his milestone, over the betterment of the Indian team.
This didn’t sit well with former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad, who bashed the critics for calling Kohli selfish.
Prasad took to X and wrote, “Hearing funny arguments about Virat Kohli being Selfish and obsessed with personal milestones. Yes Kohli is selfish, selfish enough to follow the dream of a billion people, selfish enough to strive for excellence even after achieving so much, selfish enough to set new benchmarks, and selfish enough to ensure his team wins. Yes, Kohli is selfish.”
Apart from completing 49 ODI centuries and equaling Sachin Tendulkar’s record, Kohli also completed 6000 runs at home and 3000 runs against South Africa across all forms of international cricket.
With the win, India also made sure they will finish at the top of the points table regardless of the result in their last match against the Netherlands at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.