Virat Kohli was in brilliant form against Bangladesh at the World Cup having brought up a spectacular century. Kohli’s astonishing knock was appreciated by many but there were some who thought that the India batter probably slowed down a bit in the final phase of the game so that he could reach the three-digit mark. Kohli and KL Rahul even decided not to take a few singles. Rahul himself revealed that it was his plan that they not take singles in a bid to keep Kohli on strike. Indian batter Cheteshwar Pujara recently said that he did not like this approach.
While speaking on ESPN Cricinfo, Pujara said, “As much I wanted Virat Kohli to score that hundred, you have to keep in mind, you want to finish the game as early as possible. You want your Net Run Rate to be at the top. If you are in a position where you are fighting for the Net Run Rate, then you don’t want to look back and say ‘you could have done that.’”
Pujara felt that a player should always put his team first. The 35-year-old said that a player must not focus on an individual milestone at the cost of his team.
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“That’s where I feel that as a collective decision, maybe you have to sacrifice a bit. You want to look at the team, you want to put the team first, that’s how I look at it. You want your milestone, but not at the cost of the team. As a player, you always have a choice. But some players feel if they get a hundred, it helps them in the next game. So it depends on what kind of mindset you have,” Pujara explained.
Virat Kohli’s century against Bangladesh looked a bit impossible at one point during India’s run chase. With India requiring 28 runs to win after 38 overs, Kohli found himself batting on 73. KL Rahul’s ploy, however, worked out with Kohli smashing a match-winning six to complete his century in the 42nd over.
The century against Bangladesh was Kohli’s 48th hundred in ODI cricket. The star India batter now needs one more ton to touch Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time ODI record of 49 centuries. Kohli remained unbeaten on 103 to guide India to a resounding seven-wicket win against Bangladesh.
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The victory helped India to keep their winning streak intact at the World Cup 2023. In their next match, the Rohit Sharma-led side will face table-toppers New Zealand on Sunday.
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