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The legendary captain of Australia Ricky Ponting shared that he had a brief five-minute conversation with Virat Kohli before India's ODI World Cup 2023 game against South Africa on November 5.
During the match at Eden Gardens, Kohli showcased his batting prowess on a slow pitch, achieving his 49th ODI century, a milestone equal to the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli's remarkable innings played a crucial role in guiding India to an impressive total of 326/5 in the first innings.
Subsequently, India took control of the game, dismissing South Africa's batting lineup for just 83 runs.
In his conversation with Kohli, Ponting conveyed that he preferred not to see Kohli bowling during the game.
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"I actually wished him happy birthday, it was also when he was warming up with his bowling. I said that I don't want to see any bowling from you today but I want to see a lot of your batting," Ponting told the ICC in an interview.
"Then we had a really good chat about the tournament and about the World Cup, about his career and where he's at about the record. We had a good chat about a few things, so we had a nice little 5-minute chat. He went in and got the big hundred. He played beautifully today. I guess to be here in person, there will be a lot of people who will walk out with good memories. Everyone will go home and tell their kids and grandkids in the future that they were there to witness something very special," Ponting further added.
Kohli's remarkable century has kept India undefeated in the tournament. With a perfect record of 8 wins in 8 matches in World Cup 2023, India is poised to potentially become the third team in history to win the ODI World Cup without suffering a single loss throughout the tournament.
Kohli has been in superb form in the ongoing World Cup 2023. He is the second-highest run scorer in the 2023 World Cup, amassing 543 runs from eight innings including two centuries and four fifties.
(Powered by AI, Inputs by India Today)
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