Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif has showered praise on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for their crucial contribution in the opening ODI against South Africa at the JSCA International Sports Complex, Ranchi on Sunday after the hosts registered a 17-run win. Kaif highlighted that if Kohli and Rohit had not scored the runs, India would have lost as South Africa were able to take the game deep despite losing early wickets.
While Rohit scored a decent knock of 57 runs, Kohli scored a match-winning knock of 135 runs off just 120 balls. This was the 52nd ODI century for Virat Kohli as he went on to break Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most centuries in a single format. Thus, both the batters played a key role in helping India post 349 runs on the board after the hosts were put into bat.
“You would not have scored these many runs if Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had gotten out. And if you do not score 350 this South African team will defeat you. So the direct connection is Rohit and Virat. You are talking about youngsters but at the end of the day you need them. There is a direct connection. They played well and made a partnership. If your ‘old’ players had not scored, South Africa would’ve won,” Kaif said on his YouTube channel.
Kaif lauded Virat Kohli for his blistering knock and taking the attack to the opposition bowlers in the Powerplay overs.
“Virat is not playing for numbers anymore. It is a statement. Today’s innings showed clearly that you have not seen him like this before. Hitting sixes in the powerplay, we haven’t seen that in a long time. In his mind, he only wants to play on his terms and not be pushed out by anyone. This is his format. If no wickets were falling from the other end, he had to bring his tempo down, later he again upped the ante. This is the sign of a great batter,” he said.
“This was a masterclass from Kohli from start to finish. It was not to show anyone how great he is. Now he will just want to score and want people to take his name that India won because of Virat,” he added.
The second ODI between India and South Africa will be played at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur on Wednesday.
