Dubai [UAE], February 24 (ANI): India’s batting maestro Virat Kohli opened up on his match-winning 82nd international hundred against Pakistan and said how his favourite cover drive shot presents a ‘catch 22’ situation for him, as it has been his weakness lately but he has also scored a lot of runs with that.
Kohli completed 14,000 runs in ODI cricket, becoming only the third cricketer to do so, during the ICC Champions Trophy match against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.
“It’s a ‘catch-22’. I mean, it’s kind of been my weakness as well over the years, but I’ve scored a lot of runs on that shot. I think today was just about backing my shots and I think the first couple of boundaries I got were cover drives on the rise, so I really had to just let it go a little bit and take a bit of risk and follow through with my shots, because when I hit that kind of shots, then I feel in control when I bat out there, so it was a good innings for me personally and it was a great team win,” the former India skipper said in a video posted by Indian Cricket Team on Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGcMx0CzwBR/?igsh=dnk5bHg0eDB0M3lu
Further in the video, the stalwart batter opened up on batting at number three and said that his main motive at that time is to put his team in the winning position.
“One thing that I’ve always thought of batting at three is to minimise risk and make sure that I put my team in a winning position and if you have a chance to finish off the game in a chase, obviously, that’s much better and I always preferred that kind of a situation, but yeah, my role over the years has remained the same, whatever the demand of the game, I put my head down and try to do that,” the 36-year-old player added.
Kohli slammed unbeaten 100 runs off 111 balls, laced with seven fours, was a treat to watch. His knock came at a strike rate of 90.09, helping India easily chase down Pakistan’s total of 241. This was Kohli’s sixth century in ICC ODI events and his first in the ICC Champions Trophy.
He is the third batter after Sachin Tendulkar (18,426 runs in 463 ODIs) and Kumar Sangakkara (14,234 runs in 404 matches) to reach the landmark. In 299 ODIs, Kohli has scored 14,085 runs at an average of 58.20, with 51 centuries and 73 fifties.
Coming to the India-Pakistan Champions Trophy clash, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. Pakistan was off to a fine start, with Babar Azam (23 in 26 balls, with five fours) unleashing some fine drives in the 41-run opening partnership. After two quick wickets, Pakistan was 47/2.
Skipper Mohammed Rizwan (46 in 77 balls, with three fours) and Saud Shakeel (62 in 76 balls, with five fours) had a 104-run partnership, but they took up a lot of deliveries. After the end of this partnership, Khushdil Shah (38 in 39 balls, with two sixes) did put up a fight with Salman Agha (19) and Naseem Shah (14), but they were bundled out for 241 runs in 49.4 overs.
Chasing 242 runs, India lost skipper Rohit Sharma (20 in 15 balls, with three fours and a six) early. Then the 69-run stand between Shubman Gill (46 in 52 balls, with seven fours) and Virat Kohli (100* in 111 balls, with seven fours) and a 114-run stand between Virat and Iyer (56 in 67 balls, with five fours and a six) helped India secure an easy four-wicket win with six wickets and 45 balls to spare. (ANI)
