Swashbuckling India batter Virat Kohli drew online mockery despite scoring a record-breaking 46th ODI and 74th international century against Sri Lanka in Thiruvananthapuram during the weekend.
While a section of netizens posted memes on Twitter to mock Virat Kohli, others labeled him a âfraudâ.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam's supporters in particular were not happy with Virat Kohli and slammed the former India skipper for making tons against weak teams against Sri Lanka.
Virat Kohli also received criticism for hitting three-figure scores on flat tracks in India.
Official rustication process is going on for this Fraud Virat Kohli đ
How fast he changed his colour, we thought this time he'll show loyaltyđĄđ #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/6vKjzvam2yâ TukTuk Academy (@TukTuk_Academy) January 15, 2023
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The Indian icon's trolling came as a surprise to his millions of admirers, especially when he broke a slew of world records during his masterful unbeaten 166-run-knock off 110 deliveries against the Dasun Shanaka-led side.
Unsurprisingly, Virat Kohli now has 20 Player of the Series awards to his name in international cricket, the same as Sachin Tendulkar. If we bifurcate their numbers further, Virat Kohli has claimed 3 Man of the Series trophies in Tests, 10 in ODIs, and 7 in T20Is.
Talking about the Little Master's figures, he grabbed 5 in red-ball cricket while the other 15 came in the 50-over format. He won none in T20Is.
With his 166 not out against the islanders, Virat Kohli now has the most unbeaten 150+ scores (5) in the history of ODIs.
The ton was his 21st at home in the second-longest format of the sport, taking him clear of Sachin Tendulkar's previous tally of 20.
During his sensational innings, Virat Kohli also overtook Sri Lanka legend Mahela Jayawardene to occupy the fifth spot among the highest run-getters in ODIs.
With 12,754 runs, Virat Kohli is now only behind Sachin Tendulkar (18,426), Kumar Sangakkara (14,234), Ricky Ponting (13,704), and Sanath Jayasuriya (13,430).
Virat Kohli also became the first non-opener to have 5 scores of more than 150+ in ODIs.
Moreover, Virat Kohli is the quickest to amass 46 centuries in ODI cricket â a milestone he achieved in just 259 innings. On the other hand, the previous record holder Sachin Tendulkar needed 431 innings to get there.
This was his 10th century against Sri Lanka, making him the first man to score that many tons against a single team in ODIs. Previously, Virat Kohli had made nine centuries each against Sri Lanka and West Indies, while Sachin Tendulkar had scored the same number of tons against Australia.
During his blistering knock in the capital of Kerala, Virat Kohli showed a different dimension of his batting prowess as he smashed eight sixes, including one that went as far as 97 meters. It is the most number of sixes the former India captain has slammed in during an ODI knock. Apart from eight hits over the fence, the Delhi-born cricketer's knock was laced with 13 boundaries.
A sublime Virat Kohli completed his hundred in 85 deliveries but immediately shifted gears after accomplishing the landmark. The 166 not out is his highest score at home and the second-highest in One-Day Internationals.
Virat Kohli has been in sensational nick of late. This was his third hundred in his last four games, including his 44th ODI hundred in December against Bangladesh, ending a nearly three-year drought in the format.
The former India batter admitted that he had not batted in this kind of rhythm for a while, after experiencing a prolonged slump in form between the start of 2020 to August 2022. He emphasized that he was pleased to be doing it all in a year when the 50-World Cup is scheduled to be held in India in October-December.
âIt has been a great start, been a while since I started the year like this with a hundred and then getting two hundreds in a series and also becoming man of the series,â Virat Kohli told his teammate Shubman Gill, who also hit a century in the final ODI, in a video shared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Meanwhile, the legendary Sunil Gavaskar backed Virat Kohli to equal/break Sachin Tendulkar's world record of 49 ODI hundreds before the Indian Premier League starts this year.
Kohli, who needs three to equal and four to overtake Sachin Tendulkar's record, will have six ODIs to accomplish the landmark with the Men in Blue set to play a three-match series against New Zealand and Australia each.
The three-match series between India and New Zealand starts on January 18 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad in Telangana.
India squad for New Zealand One-Day Internationals:Â Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Umran Malik.
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