Indian World Cup winner Harbhajan Singh believes that Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli won’t be overly disappointed that he didn’t score his 49th ODI century against Sri Lanka in the iconic Wankhede Stadium. The 34-year-old batted brilliantly against the 2011 runners ups falling 12 runs short of the well-deserved hundred.
In an attempt to overtake Sachin Tendulkar’s ODI hundred record, Virat Kohli scored his 48th ODI hundred against Bangladesh in Pune before missing out the centuries against New Zealand and Sri Lanka. The former Indian skipper will have the opportunity to get to milestones in the remaining games of the ODI World Cup.
During a discussion with Star Sports, Harbhajan Singh feels that Virat Kohli has played exceedingly well against 2011 Runner-ups and believes that he would not beat himself for not getting a century since he will undoubtedly reach that mark soon.
“He played a good knock. He got one or two chances for sure. If that caught and bowled had been taken, we would have said that Sri Lanka bowled very well. Yes, they bowled at the right places and troubled him slightly at the start, but once he got set, he didn’t face any difficulties.”
“As usual, you will see him bat like this – Virat Kohli is being Virat Kohli, he is not doing anything less or more. He knows his game plan. The fans were disappointed because the century didn’t come but he won’t be disappointed himself. He knows that (49th) century will come sooner or later and probably at a bigger stage than this,” Harbhajan Singh said.
Virat Kohli struck 95 in an amazing run chase against the Kiwis. Against the Lankans, Kohli had a huge opportunity at 88 but came up painfully short once more and looked utterly disappointed after missing out on a hundred in Wankhede.
The Bowler Showed His Cleverness Here – Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh heaped praise on the Sri Lankan pacer for setting him up with a slower ball to dismiss at a crucial juncture of the game, which gave their side an opportunity to invite two new batters to the crease before Shreyas Iyer took the game away from Lankans with his counter-attacking knock.
“Yes, as soon as the ball went up in the air because it was a slower ball. He (Kohli) had figured out the pace and bounce on the pitch but the bowler showed his cleverness here. It was a good ball because of which the ball went in the air,” Harbhajan Singh added.
On Thursday, Dilshan Madushanka chipped away at the Indian batting order while bowling with good rhythm and effective use of his cutters. He concluded with 5/80 runs picking up the important wickets of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, and Shreyas Iyer in the game.