Pakistan cricket legend Wasim Akram heaped praise on India's Virat Kohli for his brilliant fifty and wonderful partnership with Shubman Gill against Sri Lanka at the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
The dashing right-hander showed his class with the bat, scoring 88 runs off 94 runs with the help of 11 fours and adding 189 runs with Gill (92) to help Team India post 357/8 runs on the board against Sri Lanka.
Later, Sri Lanka bowled out for just 55 runs, as India recorded a 302-run win in Mumbai. Mohammad Shami picked 5/18, his second fifer in ongoing CWC 2023 in three matches.
After the match, Akram said that Kohli is one of the best batters in the world and backed him to break Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most ODI tons in the ongoing tournament.
Speaking on ASports' show "The Pavilion", Wasim Akram said: “Timely runs, because they lost their first wicket with just 4 runs on the board and that too in just the second ball of the match. And they lost their second wicket when India were at 193. Both have played very sensible innings.”
He continued, “Virat scored 88 with the help of 11 fours. You see, experience matters. When wickets fell, they kept scoring five an over, four an over. Virat’s strike rate was 93 but once that partnership was done it was game over for Sri lanka. Looks at him, this guy is the best in the world.”
One or two centuries away from the half-century of centuries. Sachin Tendulkar ka record todega. I think usse bas ek dur rah gaya hein. Once he settles in, he just plays shots at his will against the spin, against the medium pace, against the fast bowlers. A complete batter, one of the best in the world.”
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Meanwhile, former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Moin Khan praised the partnership between Gill and Kohli. However, Khan was really impressed with Gill’s knock as he came into the game under pressure, having been struggling for runs in the tournament.
Moin Khan said, “Three batters missed hundreds. He [Gill] batted really well. When you don't score much in the last three matches, you have the desire to go and take the challenge. We can see that in this youngster, he loves to take challenges. He plays shots everywhere today from the start.”
He signed off by saying, “The bowling was not great against them, but few shots were extraordinary. He has all the shots, and is not a one-dimensional player. That's why he succeeded in the challenge to not throw away his wicket. But got out at the wrong time and missed the ton.”
India will next play South Africa in Kolkata on November 5, Sunday.
(With ASports Inputs)
