India’s wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul who recently missed his century against Australia by just three runs revealed that Virat Kohli was hesitant to go for his 48th Test century as not enough runs were left in the run chase. Kohli was not in favour of the idea of denying singles as it was a World Cup game and he did not want to go chasing after the milestone.
"He (Virat Kohli) was confused actually, he said 'it would not look too nice to not take singles, it's still a World Cup, it's still a big stage and I don't want to look like I am trying to get the milestone'.
"I said 'it's not won, but I mean we will still this very easily. If you can get to the milestone, you must try'. And he did that in the end," Rahul told Star Sports after India’s seven-wicket win over Bangladesh at MCA Stadium, Pune.
Kohli decided to go for the century in the 39th over after hitting Hasan Mahmud for a six. In the next over, Kohli hit a boundary. On the third ball of the over, he denied a single which made it clear that he was targetting the three-figure mark. He hit another six in the over and then took a single. In the next over, Mahmud bowled well and even delivered a wide which irked the batter.
In the 42nd over, left-arm spinner Nasum even tried to bowl a wide down the leg side which was not given by umpire Richard Kettleborough. He finished the run chase with a six to get to his 48th ODI hundred and first while chasing in a World Cup match.
Rahul revealed more about the conversation he had with Kohli during their unbeaten partnership. He revealed that he decided to play his shots but when Kohli got close to the hundred, he took the call.
"I played a huge role in making it very interesting. When I walked in, there were still enough runs to get and I thought I would play a few shots and got a few more boundaries than I would have liked," Rahul added.
"Personally, it was good, but Kohli was nearing his hundred, it got really close. When there were 30 runs left, I said I will just block the ball and take singles and try and give you a strike. He did say in the end that I made it look too close for comfort.”
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