Page 48 - The Indian EYE 102723

SPORTS OCTOBER 27, 2023 | The Indian Eye 48

ICC WORLD CUP 2023

Virat Kohli in top form as

Men in Blue move to second

spot with a big win

New Zealand is at the top with a better net-run-rate.

Bangladesh is in the seventh spot with one win and three losses

OUR BUREAU
Mumbai/Pune/New Delhi

t was ‘King Kohli’ special at Pune’s
MCA Stadium as India beat Ban-
Igladesh by seven wickets. Virat
brought up his 48th ODI ton, 78th
international century and 26,000 in-
ternational runs, causing some move-
ment in cricket record books. This is
also his first WC century since 2015
and overall third.
“Sorry for stealing it (the Play-
er of the Match award) from Jaddu
(Ravindra Jadeja). I wanted to make
a big contribution. Have made fifties
in World Cups, wanted to finish it
off this time. (Free hits to start off) I
was telling Shubman that even if you
dream about this situation, you go
back to sleep. It was a dream start. It
just calms you down. The pitch was
good and allowed me to play my game
- hit the gaps and find the boundaries
whenever I could. Great atmosphere
in the dressing room. The spirit is
there for everyone to see. You need to
create some momentum in the chang- Virat Kohli raises his bat after hitting the winning runs and also completing his century during their match against Bangladesh (ANI)
ing room to come out and play like
this. Special feeling to play in front
of such crowds,” said Virat in a post- spot with one win and three losses. pleting easy chases in all their four seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in
match presentation. Virat became the ‘Man of the matches so far, adding that before the their ICC Cricket World Cup match
Coming to the match, Bangla- Match’ for his ton. tournament, the team was not able to at Pune on Thursday.
desh opted to bat first and there was a chase big totals this well. On chasing targets this tourna-
91-run opening stand between Tanzid “We were not chasing big He also expressed happiness at ment, Gill said during post-match
Hasan (51 in 43 balls with four bound- totals well before”: Gill getting his maiden WC fifty and said conference, “I mean, you can see how
aries and three sixes) and Litton Das that he is learning how seniors like Vi- confident they (top order batters) are,
(66 in 82 balls, with seven fours). ollowing his side’s seven-wick- rat Kohli and Rohit Sharma bat in big the way they are scoring runs. Defi-
With four wins in four match- et win over Bangladesh in the matches during World Cups. nitely, I think this is one of the things
es, India is in the second spot in the FICC Cricket World Cup, India’s An explosive first wicket partner- that was talked about, especially
points table with eight points. New rising batting sensation Shubman ship between skipper Rohit Sharma leading up to the World Cup, that we
Zealand is at the top with a better net- Gill said that the team aims to carry and Shubman Gill, followed by Virat were not chasing that well, those big
run-rate. Bangladesh is in the seventh on with their momentum after com- Kohli’s 48th ODI ton sealed India a Continued on next page... >>

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