“It was a great match,” Kohli said after winning the Man of the Match award. “To be honest, we were probably playing against the toughest team in the tournament we had played so far. They played incredible cricket. There was a motivation of wanting to do well for the team. Because it happened on my birthday, people made it a something more special for me. I had this feeling of ‘today is going to be something more’ instead of ‘it’s just one more game in the World Cup’. I woke up with that emotion, yes.”
After Kohli completed his 49th century, Tendulkar posted a congratulatory message on social media platform passes from 49 to 50 and break my record in the next few days. Congratulations!!
When asked about Tendulkar’s message and his achievement, an emotional Kohli said, “It’s too much to take in right now.”
“Tendulkar’s message is quite special. For me, it is too much to take in at the moment, to be honest, equaling my hero’s record in one-day internationals is something that is a great honor for me. I know that at the People like comparisons. I’m never going to be as good as him. There’s a reason we all admire him. He’s perfection when it comes to batting. I’m trying to do the best I can, trying to win games for my country. “He’s always going to be my hero no matter what happens. It’s a very emotional moment for me. I know where I come from, the days when I saw him play on TV. So to be here and get this appreciation from someone like him.” it means a lot to me. “.
After Rohit Sharma gave India a flying start against South Africa, Kohli started his innings in the sixth over and then lost Shubman Gill in the eleventh over, with the score 93 for 2. He reached his record hundred off 119 balls, reaching to the milestone in the 49th over by hitting Kagiso Rabada to cover a single in front of a near-capacity crowd at Eden Gardens. While Tendulkar scored his 49th century in his 451st ODI innings, Kohli got there in just his 277th innings in his 289th match. His innings, and his partnership of 134 off 158 balls with Shreyas Iyer, helped India score 326 for 5 in a game they eventually won by 243 runs.
“People from the outside probably see the game differently,” he said. “When the openers start like that when the ball is new, you feel like wow, this is a big success and everyone has to keep it up. But the conditions changed with the old ball, the pitching slows down. Message from the management It was simple : I bat deep, the guys around me bat with me, they form partnerships, they express themselves and I continue to do the job that the team wants me to do. That’s my role, it’s always been my role. I was just happy from that perspective because on pitches like these, if you go out, you can always look back and say 295, maybe we could have gotten 320 or 325. Once you are above 315, we know it is above par and we are in a comfortable situation.”
“I would say I’m having fun playing cricket again, which is more important now than thinking about phases and things like that,” he said. I think in a phase where things weren’t working out, you’re not having fun. That’s what I get out of this. You can still score runs thanks to your experience. But being out there, even for those 50-60 races, is not as fun as it is now. “I’m happy because God has blessed me with that enjoyment again and I can do the things I’ve done for so many years again.”