In their 8th encounter of the ODI World Cup 2023 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, Virat Kohli celebrated his 35th birthday in style. While smashing South Africa by 243 runs, he also tied Sachin Tendulkar’s record with his 49th ODI century.
India’s outstanding performance, which included an enormous score of 326/5 during the allocated 50 overs, was built around Kohli’s century. With 121 balls, Kohli struck 101 runs, including 10 well timed fours.
Shreyas Iyer provided important help to Virat Kohli by contributing 77. The chase was never truly on as South Africa was bowled out for a meagre 83 after 27.1 overs. Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami both took three wickets apiece as they went wild with the ball. Jadeja in particular bowled with such grace and precision that she was unplayable. In nine overs, he concluded with 5/33 statistics.
With their seventh straight victory in the competition, India has now safely advanced to the semi-finals. They are the overwhelming favourites to win the championship. It is going to be intriguing to watch if they can continue to roll during the knockout stages.
A lighthearted moment of humour broke the tension between the supporters and the fierce conflict taking place on the pitch. When Virat Kohli as well as Shreyas Iyer were playing together at one point in the game, they appeared to be having trouble rotating the strike.
“Kishan who will be held accountable” : Ravi Shastri
Ravi Shastri's commentary on Rohit's instructions to Ishan Kishan for the Kohli and Iyer??
"Woh batsman phir andar aakar bolega Ishan toh kuch aur hi bola tha, aur phir chaddi kisi aur ki ghis jaayegi" pic.twitter.com/y80C2HeKpV
— Jay Kamat (@JayendraKamat) November 5, 2023
All eyes were on the changing room, where 12th man Ishan Kishan and skipper Rohit Sharma were spotted chatting. It was presumably over a message for Iyer and Kohli. In a hilarious turn of things, Ishan Kishan appeared to have an update for the two batters as he hurried to the pitch during an overbreak. The incident, which was caught on tape, made people chuckle both inside the stadium and when they watched it on TV.
Ravi Shastri while doing commentary said on this incidentthat, “Aagar aisa waisa kuch hogaya to chaddi Kishan ki khichegi galat message dene k liye.” (If anything happens, it will be Ishan Kishan who will be held accountable).”
