Virat Kohli's historic performance against Sri Lanka in Team India's latest 2023 Cricket World Cup match on Thursday sparked an epic meme fest on Twitter, now rebranded as X.

 

Netizens had fun at the Delhi-born cricketer's expense after he broke Sachin Tendulkar's world record in ODIs at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

 

 

During his 88-run knock against Sri Lanka, Virat Kohli completed a thousand runs in ODIs in 2023, marking the eighth occasion when he has compiled such numbers in a calendar year in the 50-over format.

 

It took him 23 innings to touch the landmark figure this year.

 

Before amassing a thousand-plus runs in 2023, Virat Kohli attained similar feats in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

 

It made Virat Kohli the first men's cricketer to have over a thousand runs in a calendar year eight times.

 

Before Virat Kohli, his idol Sachin Tendulkar reached the milestone seven times in 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003, and 2007.

 

However, Virat Kohli failed to equal Sachin Tendulkar's record of 49 centuries in ODIs despite reaching the verge of a hundred at the Wankhede Stadium.

 

Virat Kohli has registered 48 centuries in ODIs, with his last three-figure score coming against Bangladesh last month.

 

Virat Kohli arrived at the crease following the early dismissal of Rohit Sharma and later combined with Shubman Gill to steady the ship for India.

 

The pair were engaged in an 189-run partnership that laid the foundation of India's mammoth score of 357/8, which in large part was attributed to splendid knocks from Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, and Shreyas Iyer.

 

Shubman Gill looked good to score his maiden hundred in the World Cup but fell for 92 off 92 deliveries after playing a poor shot off Dilshan Madushanka in the 30th over.

 

Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer were undone by slower balls from the same bowler, losing their wickets for 88 and 82, respectively.

 

In reply, the entire Sri Lankan batting line-up fell like nine-pins, getting all-out for only 55 runs, handing India a 301-run victory at the Wankhede Stadium.

 

The Indian pacers led by Mohammed Shami were relentless throughout the Sri Lankan innings, and the islanders found no answer to their seam and swing bowling.

 

Mohammed Shami again picked up a fifer after his heroics against New Zealand in Dharamshala earlier in the World Cup.

 

On the other hand, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj started the carnage, with the former grabbing a wicket while the latter sent three back to the pavilion to leave Sri Lanka in tatters at 4/3.

 

Subsequently, it became a Mohammed Shami show as he ended up with figures of 5/18 to complete Sri Lanka's destruction in Mumbai.

 

The win over Sri Lanka made India the first team to qualify for the semifinals in the Cricket World Cup.

 

After seven matches, Rohit Sharma and his boys have 14 points and are the only side to remain unbeaten in the prestigious competition.

 

Also, the triumph against Sri Lanka was Virat Kohli's 308th in India's colors, taking him past Sachin Tendulkar's 307 wins.

    

Meanwhile, former England captain Nasser Hussain underlined that Virat Kohli shouldn't feel disappointed about missing out on his 49th hundred as the focus should be on winning the World Cup for Team India.

 

“Winning the World Cup is the most important thing. He will get the 49, he will get the 50th. He will probably get a 100 international hundreds, he is that good. But the more important thing is winning the World Cup. India must not build it up to be about his 49th,” Nasser Hussain said on Star Sports.

 

“I remember Sachin had spoken about it, the only time he really felt the enormity of who he was when going from 99 to 100, the person in the room service before he hung up asked him ‘are you going to get your 100th today?”

 

“He hid himself from the noise, he shut out the noise and the only time he could hear the noise was from 99 to 100. So, I just hope that Virat can hide away from that noise, just for a few weeks longer,” he stressed.

 

According to South African icon Graeme Smith, Virat Kohli's records in limited-overs cricket were mind-blowing, and he deserves to be called the greatest player of all time in ODIs and T20Is.

“Virat's career has been incredible. But I think when you dig into his one-day stats and record, it is mind-blowing. I think the quality that he has produced right through his international career, in my opinion, he exceeds Sachin,” Graeme Smith said in an interview with the news agency ANI.

 

“Virat is brilliant, particularly with chase. The way he controls chases. His ability to play a one-day game no matter what the situation is around him and he is a key figure along with Rohit Sharma at the top of the order in terms of managing pressure as the tournament goes on and how well they play with the bat and just a superstar,” the former South African skipper explained.