Star India batsman Virat Kohli toyed with a century on his 35th birthday as India defeated South Africa by 243 runs in their Cricket World Cup match in Kolkata on Sunday. Kohli marked the occasion by smashing his 49th ODI century, taking his former teammate Sachin Tendulkar into the all-time rankings. Kohli hit an unbeaten 101, while Shreyas Iyer hit a brilliant 77 as India posted a total of 326/5 in 50 overs after captain Rohit Sharma opted to bat.
In reply, South Africa crumbled to 83 all out, with Ravindra Jadeja claiming a five-wicket haul.
During South Africa’s failed chase, Kohli was seen enjoying himself in the open field.
Kohli was seen singing and grooving to the song ‘Chaleya’ from Shah Rukh Khan’s film ‘Jawaan’.
Finally, Kohli concluded his cameo with the iconic Shah Rukh Khan pose.
Speaking about his knock, Kohli said the wicket was tricky and his role was to bat deep.
“It was a tough wicket to bat on, we got a great start from Rohit and Shubman, my job was to keep it going. The ball started grabbing and turning after the 10th over, it got slower and then my role to bat deep while the others played around me. That was what the team management told me,” Virat said after his innings.
“Shreyas played well and towards the end we got a few more runs. We (He and Iyer) had a lot of talks during the Asia Cup, we batted at 3 and 4, so this was the partnership needed to win the match. We don’t have Hardik in the team, so we knew a few wickets could cost us. We had to dig deep and take the game deep.”
“I am grateful to God for giving me the opportunity to play and contribute to the team’s success. It is great to get a hundred on my birthday in front of a big crowd at this great venue. The pitch is at the slower side, we We also have a quality bowling line-up but we will have to work hard. Wickets will be key, if you get some early they will come under pressure with the way this pitch is behaving ,” he added.
Topics mentioned in this article