‘He has done it in single format’ – Kamran Akmal in awe of Virat Kohli’s century vs Sri Lanka in 1st ODI
Virat Kohli, the Indian star cricketer, bagged his 73rd international century during the first ODI against Sri Lanka on January 10, Tuesday and it was his second consecutive hundred in the format, with the previous one coming against Bangladesh in December 2022. Kohli scored a fighting 113 and helped the Indian team put on 373 runs on the board after being forced to bat first, eventually helping the team to win the game by 67 runs.
The right-handed batter’s blistering knock attracted praise from all ends of the cricketing world and one of them was former Pakistani cricketer Kamran Akmal. Kohli, after bagging the Player of the Match award, said that the innings was gratifying to him, after going through a rough phase for almost 2 years. Akmal said that the current-era players are dreaming about scoring 45 centuries across formats, while the Indian batter has scored in one format alone.
For the unversed, Kohli’s 113 was his 45th ODI ton, meaning that he is only 4 centuries away in the format from matching Sachin Tendulkar’s record (49). The innings looked facile, notably, but the former Pakistani cricketer was quick enough to acknowledge the efforts that Kohli might have put on behind the scenes to make it look easy.
He made the most of those chances: Kamran Akmal
The knock was pleasing, although, Kohli did survive two dropped catches along the course of reaching the three-figure landmark at 52 and 81. Akmal said that the batter survived those chances, not wasting them to add one more century to his name. With India set to take on the Lankan Lions in the second ODI on Thursday, Kohli’s ton in the previous match has added excitement to the series.
“Nowadays, players can’t even imagine of scoring of 45 centuries across formats, but Virat Kohli has scored as many in a single format. He has scored 73 international tons so far. He definitely got chances, but he made the most of those chances,” Akmal was quoted as saying on his YouTube channel.
“He had scored a century on this venue two-three years back and now he has rediscovered his form by scoring another hundred. He performed in the World Cup and the Asia Cup. The runs haven’t dried up, which tells how important a player he is for India,” he added.
