Star Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli played a stupendous knock of 166 which helped India beat Sri Lanka by a world-record margin of 317 runs. Kohli scored his third hundred in the last four ODIs as he smashed 166 off 110 balls with the help of 13 fours and 8 sixes. The 34-year-old who broke several records during his innings said that he’s not desperate for milestones.
Kohli was awarded ‘Player of the match’ and ‘Player of the series’ as well for scoring two hundreds in the series. “It (the awards) is the by-product of the intent I have,” Kohli, who hit his 74th international century, said after being named man of the match and series.
“Mindset is always to help the team as much as I can, bat for as long as possible and put the team in a strong position. I have always played for the right reasons, help the team as much as possible,” he added.
Former India captain Kohli has been in blazing form since coming out of an extended lean patch last year when he spoke about his mental struggles during the phase.
“Ever since I came back from the break, I am feeling good and I don’t have desperation anymore to get to a milestone,” Kohli said.
“I want to continue being in this space where I am relaxed and content with how I am playing, and that for me is the most important thing. Today I was happy to be batting out there, and in that space I end up playing my best cricket,” he added.
During his innings, Kohli scored his 21st ODI hundred in India and surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 20 ODI hundreds in a single nation. It was also his 10th hundred in the 50-over format against Sri Lanka making him the batter to have most hundreds against a single nation surpassing Tendulkar’s record of 9 hundreds against Australia.
He further left behind Mahela Jayawardene to enter the list of the top five highest run scorers in the history of ODI cricket. Kohli has amassed 12,754 runs in 268 ODI matches so far for India.
Mohammed Siraj helped India skittle Sri Lanka for 72 with a four-fer
Coming back to the match, India won the toss and opted to bat first. The ‘Men-in-Blue’ posted a mammoth 390/5 on the board courtesy of centuries from Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill. In reply, Sri Lanka faltered against the fiery spell of swing bowling by Mohammed Siraj which bundled them for just 73 in 22 overs. Siraj picked up 4/32 in 10 overs and also ran out Chamika Karunaratne. Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav also picked up two wickets each as India registered the highest-ever victory margin in ODIs of 317 runs.
Talking about Siraj in the post-match presentation, captain Rohit Sharma called him a ‘rare talent’. “The way he was swinging the ball, he is a rare talent. The way he has come up in the last few years is good to see. He has gone from strength to strength and that’s really good for Indian cricket,” he added
