India talisman Virat Kohli finally ended his nearly three-and-a-half-year-long century drought with his 44th ODI hundred against Bangladesh in the third ODI on Saturday. After he brought up his 72nd hundred, going past Australian great Ricky Ponting to become the second leading centurion on the international stage, Virat Kohli could be seen saying a couple of words to stand-in skipper KL Rahul in a video that eventually broke the internet.
Virat Kohli completed his century with a huge six off the bowling of Ebadot Hossain. Immediately after he removed his helmet and raised his bat to loud cheers from the crowd before uttering four words to his batting partner KL Rahul, who moved in his direction to congratulate the former India captain.
The batting maestro appeared to have said: “Three f***ng years boss.”
https://twitter.com/anubhav__tweets/status/1601517889890439169
https://twitter.com/Mon_Geller29/status/1601534631651979264
Earlier this year, Virat Kohli ended the wait for an international century, which had started in November 2019, reaching the three-figure mark against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup. It was his maiden T20I hundred and 71st overall.
Remarkably, Virat Kohli brought an end to his international ton drought at the time under the captaincy of KL Rahul, and interestingly, the latter was leading the Men in Blue on Saturday as well. Before he made 113 runs off 91 balls against Bangladesh in Chattogram, Virat Kohli had scored an ODI hundred in August 2019.
The innings moved Virat Kohli into the second spot among the men with the most international hundreds. While Ricky Ponting has 71 centuries to his name across formats, the legendary Sachin Tendulkar occupies the Numero Uno position with 100 international tons. Moreover, Virat Kohli with 44 ODI hundreds stands only five behind Sachin Tendulkar's world record of 49 in the 50-over format.
However, it was Ishan Kishan who stole the limelight from Virat Kohli as he became the fourth India batter to score a double hundred in One-Day Internationals following his sensational 210-run-knock off 131 deliveries in the same match.
Before him, the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, the explosive Virender Sehwag, and current skipper Rohit Sharma have accomplished the milestone. It was also the quickest double century in the 50-over format as Ishan Kishan reached the milestone in only 126 deliveries, while the former record holder West Indies great Chris Gayle got there in 138 balls against Zimbabwe in 2015.
Talking about the multiple feats that Ishan Kishan accomplished in the match, the first and foremost was going past Rohit Sharma‘s long-standing record to become the youngest double-centurion in One-Day Internationals. Ishan Kishan accomplished the feat during his stroke-filled 210-run-knock off 131 deliveries against Bangladesh in the third ODI at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Saturday.
While Ishan Kishan made his maiden double hundred at the age of 24 years and 145 days, Rohit Sharma did it when he was 26 years and 186 days old against the mighty Australians in Bengaluru in 2013.
After Bangladesh asked India to bat first, the visitors lost senior batter, Shikhar Dhawan, early in the innings as he walked back to the pavilion for just 3 off 8 balls.
Ishan Khan then took center stage as he and Virat Kohli stitched together a blistering 290-run partnership for the second wicket to put India in command.
Among other records, Ishan Kishan now holds the record for the highest score by a visiting batter in Bangladesh, overtaking former Australian cricketer Shane Watson who smashed an unbeaten 185 in the South Asian nation in 2011.
Ishan Kishan also pipped former BCCI president and India captain, Sourav Ganguly, to become the side's top scorer in an away match as an opener. Sourav Ganguly had smacked 183 against Sri Lanka during the 1999 World Cup in England.
Meanwhile, former India cricketers Ajit Agarkar and Ajay Jadeja heaped rich praise on Virat Kohli, pointing out that his consistency has been just remarkable.
The two retired players said that reaching 72 centuries in international cricket wasn't a mean task and Virat Kohli should be credited for raising the bar for the current generation of players with his insane numbers across formats.
“I think Ishan Kishan's innings helped him a lot. He will definitely send something to Litton Das because very few times such catches are dropped in international cricket, but you also have to remember that he took a brilliant catch in the first game. He could take his time today. An early wicket had fallen, so he had the time. The pitch kept on improving. The fluency came in later, there is no doubt that it was a struggle at the start but Ishan Kishan had removed the pressure from him,” Ajit Agarkar told Sony Sports.
“Only God (Sachin Tendulkar) is ahead. This is a milestone that cannot be achieved in one day. You can do what Ishan Kishan did in one day, or score a triple century, but to score 72 centuries is amazing. Consistency is his name,” Ajay Jadeja concluded.
Even KL Rahul hailed the Indian opening batter and Virat Kohli for their ultra-aggressive approach as the two batters took the Bangladesh bowling apart with their perfect timing and clean hitting all over the park.
“Brilliant to see how Virat and Ishan batted. The way Kishan started, he was looking aggressive from ball one. He got an opportunity, and grabbed it with both hands. Getting a double hundred in ODIs isn't done often. Batters were really brave, and we decided to do the same with the ball. There wasn't much help [from the pitch]. There are a few injury concerns, but that gives opportunity to guys. We'll try and carry this confidence and momentum into the Tests,” KL Rahul concluded.
Follow Us
Subscribe