Legendary South African quick Dale Steyn said it would be fantastic to witness Virat Kohli score a century in his 300th ODI. On Sunday, March 2, Kohli will play his 300th 50-over match for India, against New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
The star batter is coming off a stunning century against his favorite opposition in the previous encounter, where he hit a sublime knock of 100* (111) to lead India home in a 242-run chase against Pakistan. Steyn hoped Kohli wwouldscore another century before his historic game.
“It is written, isn't it, for, Virat, 300 ODIs and a hundred in his 300 would be magical to see. But I think, India would want to go into that game just to play their best cricket, as with New Zealand, I think. The semi-finalists are now decided, it just depends on who goes where right now. But from Virat's point of view, he'll look to continue that good form that he had from the previous game where he scored 100 and hopefully do a replica again in the semi-final and get Team Blue India into another final,” Steyn said on Star Sports.
Steyn added that Kohli hopes to help India win another ICC championship repeating his Player of the Tournament performance in the T20 World Cup 2024.
“300 ODIs is absolutely huge and the hunger that he shows to continue growing his game and getting better and never being demoralized by anything is pretty incredible. He scored 100 the other day, it shows that he's still hungry to score runs and do well for his country. He won the World Cup last year against South Africa, the T20 World Cup in Barbados and I'm sure another tournament where he wants to go all the way.
So, 300 ODIs, congratulations Virat Kohli, but he has a bigger goal in mind. He needs to beat New Zealand, beat the semi-final, and win another final for India. That will be his biggest achievement yet,” he added.
Kohli will become the seventh Indian to play 300 ODIs for the country, joining Yuvraj Singh, Sourav Ganguly, Mohammad Azharuddin, Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni, and Sachin Tendulkar in the elite list.
Kohli scored his 31st ODI hundred in his 200th game, which was also played against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
