Legendary Indian spinner Anil Kumble heaped praise on Indian batting prodigy Virat Kohli for his remarkable achievements in the ODI format of the game following his record 49th hundred in the 50-over format of the game on Sunday. The 35-year-old scored equalled the record of Sachin Tendulkar’s most ODI hundreds.
The former Indian skipper, who turned 35 on Sunday scored his 49th hundred. The right-handed batter scored his 48th century against Bangladesh and narrowly missed tying Tendulkar’s record for the most ODI tons versus Sri Lanka and New Zealand but played exceedingly well to achieve this record in a full-packed Eden Gardens crowd.
Speaking on Espncricinfo, Anil Kumble lauded Virat Kohli for his brilliant batting in the 50-over format of the game and emphasized that his record is among the greatest of any batter who has played in the ODI format of the game for a long time.
“It’s been a fantastic career so far for Virat Kohli and getting almost 60 runs per innings in ODIs is ridiculous. He is playing at a 90 plus strike rate and going strong and you could see that the hunger was there as he batted almost the entire 50 overs,” Anil Kumble said.
In eight innings, Virat Kohli scored 543 runs at an average of 108.60 and a strike rate of 88.29 and played some pivotal knocks for the team in the ongoing ODI World Cup. On his 35th birthday, The Indian batting maestro struck an undefeated 101 from 121 balls to win Player of the Match.
Virat Kohli Had The Cushion Of The Great Start From Rohit Sharma – Anil Kumble
Anil Kumble feels that Virat Kohli took the responsibility after the wickets of the Indian opener. He also thinks that Rohit Sharma’s innings at the top of the order helped him to decompress a little before taking on the bowlers. However, he believes that the pitch wasn’t easy because there was some uneven bounce in the game.
“He was still running in the way we have seen him do. But he played a fantastic innings, which was very important for India. He had the cushion of the great start from Rohit Sharma, but he had to soak in the pressure. It was not an easy surface early on when the pitch was up and down, slower and the ball was stopping and coming,” Anil Kumble added.
At the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday, the Men in Blue dominated South Africa to win the 2023 ODI World Cup for the eighth game in a row. The hosts, batting first, scored 326 runs in their allotted 50 overs before bowling the Proteas out for a miserable 83 runs.
