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Batting great Virender Sehwag's tweet on talismanic India batter Virat Kohli following the latter's dogged knock against Australia in the home team's first World Cup game went viral on the internet.
Virat Kohli was India's savior after the Men in Blue found themselves in a tight spot before his imperious 85-run knock helped them overcome the Australian challenge at the MA Chidambaram Stadium during the weekend.
Impressed by Virat Kohli's match-winning knock, Virender Sehwag praised him on Twitter, now rebranded as X.
“Jahan Matter Bade hote hain, Wahan King Kohli Khade hote hain. Class innings,” Virender Sehwag wrote on the microblogging platform.
Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bat first. However, it was the only thing that went right for the Kangaroos. Otherwise, it was a forgettable day for the five-time World Cup champions.
On a spinning track at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, the Indian spinners, led by a highly accurate Ravindra Jadeja, strangled the Australian batters so much that they could only put 199 on the scoreboard.
Except for David Warner, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, and a small cameo from Mitchell Starc during the concluding stages of their essay, none of the other Australian batters got going.
Ravindra Jadeja was immaculate with his line and length as he gave nothing away. Along with his spin partners Kuldeep Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja frustrated the Australian batters with their accuracy.
In particular, Ravindra Jadeja was lethal on the Chennai pitch, ending the match with excellent figures of 3/28, including the wickets of Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, and Alex Carey.
In reply, India was tottering at 3/2 with captain Rohit Sharma, opener Ishan Kishan, and No.4 Shreyas Iyer all back in the hut without troubling the scorers.
With India in a deep hole, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul stitched a match-winning 165-run partnership with his younger colleague.
Interestingly, the two batters played low-risk cricket, relying more on ones and twos to find a way past the trio of Australian pacers, including Josh Hazlewood.
Though chase-master Virat Kohli fell for 85 when he was nearing his 48th hundred in ODIs, KL Rahul ultimately hit the winning runs, finishing the contest with a six.
During his 85-run knock at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, Virat Kohli also broke numerous records, including going past Sachin Tendulkar's tally in successful run chases.
Virat Kohli overhauled Sri Lanka batting great Kumar Sangakkara's tally of most 50+ scores as a non-opener in ODIs. With his fifty against Australia, the former India captain has 113 such scores. Kumar Sangakkara made 112 fifty-plus scores in 359 knocks in 50-over cricket.
Besides, Virat Kohli became the fastest to score 15,000 international runs in Asia.
Virat Kohli steadied the ship with his 116-ball 85 after India was reeling at 3/2 before comfortably hauling the 200-run target set by the Australians.
His 85-run knock ensured that he toppled Sachin Tendulkar from the perch of players with the most runs in successful run-chases in ODIs.
At present, Virat Kohli's tally in India's wins while chasing in the 50-over format reads 5,517 runs in 92 innings at a stunning average of 88.98.
Sachin Tendulkar ended his illustrious career with 5,490 runs in 124 innings in successful run chases.
Virat Kohli also broke Sachin Tendulkar's long-standing record in white-ball ICC events.
During his masterful innings against Australia, Virat Kohli surpassed his idol Sachin Tendulkar, who has 2,719 runs in ICC ODI and T20I tournaments.
While Sachin Tendulkar's 2,719 runs came in 61 games, Virat Kohli accomplished the feat in his 67th contest.
But Virat Kohli has a far healthier average in 50 and 20 overs ICC games than Sachin Tendulkar. Virat Kohli has made his runs in ICC white-ball events at a stunning average of 65.23, featuring two tons and 25 fifties. On the other hand, Sachin Tendulkar's average in similar events stands at 52.28, including seven tons and 16 half-centuries.
Virat Kohli has amassed his runs by competing in three different ICC events in white-ball cricket – ICC ODI World Cup, ICC ODI Champions Trophy, and ICC T20 World Cup. But Sachin Tendulkar never got an opportunity to ply his trade in T20 World Cups, participating only in the Champions Trophy and ODI World Cup.
Current India skipper Rohit Sharma, 2011 World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh, former captain Sourav Ganguly, the legendary MS Dhoni, and batting stalwart Rahul Dravid follow Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar for most runs by an Indian in white-ball ICC competitions.
Rohit Sharma has accumulated 2,422 runs at a healthy average of 46.19 in ICC limited-over tournaments, while Yuvraj Singh has collected 1,707 runs at an average of 34.77 in such events. Sourav Ganguly has made 1,671 runs, MS Dhoni has smashed 1,492 runs, and Rahul Dravid has amassed 1,487 runs in white-ball ICC tournaments.
Virat Kohli emphasized that he and KL Rahul brought India back in the match by playing conventional cricket.
“It helped that we played the more conventional way in those tough situations. It obviously helped us to eradicate the errors and help us to rotate the strike as well. We had a good start and the team feels good after a win like that and as KL said, hopefully we can go a long way in this tournament,” Virat Kohli told KL Rahul in an interview posted on the BCCI website.
“One thing that for me was the highlights of our partnership was – obviously it was because of the low total – but how content we were to knock the ball around. Not necessarily looking at the number of balls we had played and the runs we had got. Just fighting through the physical challenges of what we had to experience through the afternoon and coming into the evening. The pressure obviously makes you feel more tense and you start getting more fatigued that you actually are. Just knocking the ball around and then bringing the total down 10-15 runs at a time. That for me I felt like was something that really helped us build that big partnership,” Virat Kohli added.
“Tired. I won't lie,” KL Rahul said in response to Virat Kohli's question about his physical state.
“You know how it was. The only chat after I think 50-70 runs of partnership was ‘let's conserve the energy, let's not run the twos but yes once we get it in the gap, the body and the instincts take over and you end up running. It was a tough day, glad that we could get the journey of our World Cup started with a good victory,” KL Rahul concluded.
