Eden Gardens There were two heroes of India’s victory on Sunday. Played an unbeaten inning of 101 runs on his birthday. Sachin Tendulkar Virat Kohli’s record of 49 ODI centuries was first equaled by Virat Kohli, on the basis of which India scored a huge score of 326 runs for five wickets. South African batting, which was a headache for the bowlers throughout the season, could not cope with the Indian spinners. Ravindra Jadeja And on the basis of the excellent performance of the rest of the bowlers, India on Sunday bundled out South Africa for 83 runs in 27.1 overs in a match which was being considered as the ‘dress rehearsal for the final’. Jadeja took five wickets. Kohli, who missed a century by 12 runs in the 302-run win against Sri Lanka in the last match, finally scored his 49th century in his 289th match in the 277th innings. Kohli played this memorable inning, living up to the expectations of about 65,000 spectators gathered at Eden Gardens. After this victory, India is on top with 16 points from eight matches and has to play its last league match against Netherlands on November 12 in Bengaluru. South Africa is in second place with 12 points from the same number of matches and both the teams are expected to clash in the World Cup final. The Indian bowlers, who were in excellent form, repeated the performance and proved the South African team was as good as a school team.
It’s special to equal my hero’s record: Kohli
Despite playing many brilliant innings on the cricket field, Virat Kohli remains a fan of Sachin Tendulkar. After equaling his idol’s record of 49 ODI centuries, he admitted without hesitation that he would never be able to match the Mumbai legend. Man of the Match Kohli, after making his 35th birthday memorable, said at the awards ceremony that it is a great honor to equal his hero’s record. He has been ‘perfect’ in terms of batting. This is an emotional moment. I know those days, where I come from, I know those days when I saw them on TV. Getting appreciation from them means a lot to me. After Kohli’s century, Tendulkar wrote in ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), Virat played a great game. When Kohli was asked about this, he said that Tendulkar’s message is very special. It’s all too much for now. Kohli said that the fans made this match very special for him. He said that it was a challenging match. Probably, playing against the toughest team so far in the tournament gave us the inspiration to perform well. People made my birthday even more special. I realized it was something else. When the opening batsmen start in that style, you feel that the pitch is quite easy.
Kohli is a great player: Dravid
Indian cricket team head coach Rahul Dravid termed Virat Kohli, who is celebrating his 35th birthday on Sunday, as a great player of the game and said that his performance has set standards for players of his generation. Former India captain Kohli has created countless records across all formats of the game and continues to do so. He is in great form in the current World Cup. Dravid told the International Cricket Council (ICC) that Virat is a legend of the game, especially in this format of cricket (ODI). I think the way he finishes matches in all formats of the game makes him special. He has probably set a standard for cricketers of his generation with his performances over the last few years. Experienced spinner Ravichandran Ashwin admitted that Kohli has played a big role in changing the way of thinking and mentality of the players in Indian cricket.