'New prediction king in town' - ex India player's prediction for Virat Kohli's ton comes out true
Virat Kohli blazed it away to all corners of the stadium in Hyderabad this Thursday (May 18) night and helped Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) dominate their stiff run-chase in the must-win IPL 2023 league stage encounter against the hosts Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
The Indian batting great shrugged his slow-going approach in a high-octane battle for supremacy and came out all guns flowing in what was a memorable second half. The 34-year-old smashed 100 off 63 deliveries, including 12 fours and 4 sixes, relishing the true pace and bounce available from the deck.
It was Virat Kohli's seventh T20 hundred - the most by an Indian male - and sixth in IPL cricket. But also one that was predicted well before by ex India cricketer Yusuf Pathan, whose words from before the game came out absolutely true and resulted in a Kohli classic for the fans to savour.
The former middle-order blaster made this prediction prior to the toss and explained why he prophesied the century in an amusing clip shared by his younger brother and former India left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan, who gave his elder the name of "new prediction king in town".
Pathan's amazing pre-match prediction for Kohli's ton
The clip is from the shooting studios of host broadcaster 'Star Sports', for which both the Pathan brothers have been doing commentary duties in the highly competitive IPL 2023. Irfan initially tells the viewers through a query to Yusuf that his elder brother had foreseen Virat Kohli making a century for RCB in the game against SRH. The query was why he thought it would happen?
Watch: Heartwarming reaction from RCB teammates after Virat Kohli's stunning six to reach his hundred
To this, Yusuf explained that having played the game himself for so long and observing that Kohli stood calm despite the must-win nature of the game, he felt it is imminent that the RCB opener would come out blasting the opposition attack on the night.
"Cricket khele hain toh body language pata chalti hai khiladi ki (I have played cricket for so long, I understand the body language a player has arrived with)," Yusuf said.
"Jis tarah se (Kohli) shanti se bethe the, araam se bethe the, concentrate kar rahe the, aur ye bada match tha aur pressure tha, toh iss wajah se maine bola tha ki aj Virat Kohli hundred banayenge (the way he sat quietly, looking calm and concentrating hard, despite knowing this was a big match with huge pressure, it's why I felt Virat Kohli will get a hundred)," he added.
The thinking behind the prediction of Virat Kohli scoring 100 even before the game was started. New prediction in town?? @iamyusufpathan pic.twitter.com/pc3LeAL2Pk
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) May 18, 2023
Pathan then praised his brother, calling him the "new prediction king in town!!".