'You complete your century' - KL Rahul persuaded Virat Kohli not to take singles
India registered a clinical victory over Bangladesh by seven wickets in Pune to make it four wins in as many games in the World Cup 2023. They are on an unbeaten streak and look unstoppable at the moment. They made a mockery of Bangladesh’s total in Pune.
While there was plenty of memorable action throughout the course of the game, the final few moments of the partnership between Virat Kohli and KL Rahul stole the limelight and will remain a talking point for some time now. When Virat Kohli was nearing his century, the Indian team almost required as many runs as Virat needed to complete his century.
While he is someone not known to play for personal milestones, Virat had a slight desperation to get that World Cup century after a string of fifties. KL Rahul might have also asked him to go for it since he had already put his team in a winning situation. Hence, KL Rahul decided to let Virat complete his century and didn’t take singles between the overs so that Virat could stay on the crease and hit boundaries in an attempt to complete his hundred.
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The plan was a success, as Virat notched up his 48th ODI century after all the chaos and drama unfolding in the middle. He hit a huge six to reach the milestone and also take India over the line with an unbeaten century.
KL Rahul discloses his chat with Virat Kohli during the final moments
After the end of the game, KL Rahul had a brief chat with the official broadcasters, Star Sports. He talked about a range of things while also disclosing his conversation with Virat Kohli when India were on the brink of a win. Rahul said that Kohli was reluctant to avoid singles, but he asked him to just think about his milestone.
“I denied the singles,” exclaimed KL Rahul on Star Sports. Virat said it would be bad if we don’t take singles - people would think I am playing for personal milestones, but I said we are comfortably winning. You complete your century.”
Clearly, it was KL Rahul who persuaded Virat Kohli to complete his hundred. Rahul later also added that he wouldn’t have taken singles anyway to keep his partner on the strike.
Initially, Rahul made work arduous for Kohli by hitting a few boundaries and reducing the winning gap. Ultimately, Virat somehow managed to complete his century. It was the right decision to play for his hundred, as the team had all but sealed the game, and the World Cup centuries don’t come often, either.
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