Virat Kohli and KL Rahul put on an outstanding show at Colombo against Pakistan in the Super 4s of the Asia Cup 2023. After the game resumes on the reserve day, both the batters reach their respective centuries and help the team put on a huge total of 356 on the board in the first inning. The Indian bowlers didn’t give a sniff to the Pakistani batters as India won the game by a big margin of 228 runs.
Indian Openers Laid The Foundation
Both the Indian openers, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill scored fifties and put on a 121-run stand for the first wicket. Shubman makes the most of his chances and Rohit, after surviving a new ball scare against Naseem Shah, also brings up his half-century.
Shaheen and Shadab pulled back
Shadab Khan and Shaheen Afridi got Rohit and Shubman respectively in consecutive overs after the drinks break. The rain forced the umpires to call off the day when India was 147 for 2 in 24.1 overs.
Virat Kohli and KL Rahul Resume on Day 2 | IND vs. PAK
The game on day 2 started a bit late as well. But as soon as both the batters came out, they made the most of the opportunity.
Both took some time to get their eyes in and get used to the pace and bounce of the pitch. But as soon as they got in, they went hard against the opposition batters.
47th ODI hundred for Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli completed his 47th ODI century against Pakistan. He is just 3 centuries away from breaking the most ODI centuries record of Sachin Tendulkar. The way Virat Kohli is playing, no doubt that he will surpass Sachin’s record in ODIs.
Overall, it is Virat Kohli’s 77th international century. He has 29 centuries in tests and one in T20Is, which came against Afghanistan last year in the Asia Cup 2022.
Virat Kohli – a beast against Pakistan
Virat Kohli always performs well against Pakistan. Especially when the team needs him in a pressure situation. How can we forget his outstanding inning of 82 against Pakistan last year in 20 WC 2022 in Melbourne? Other than that, he has always been a go-to man for Team India against Pakistan.
He has played so many good innings against Pakistan over the years. Let’s see Virat’s last 11 innings against Pakistan across all formats.
107 (126 balls)
81* (68 balls)
5 (9 balls)
49 (51 balls)
57 (49 balls)
35 (34 balls)
77 (75 balls)
4 (7 balls)
60 (44 balls)
82* (53 balls)
122* (94 balls)
So Virat Kohli has scored 679 runs in the last 11 games against Pakistan with an average of 84.87.
Fastest to 13000 ODI runs
Virat Kohli also becomes the fastest player to reach 13000 international runs in ODIs. He achieved this milestone in 267 innings.
4th consecutive hundred in Colombo
It looks like Virat Kohli loves batting at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The century against Pakistan was his 4th consecutive hundred at Colombo. Before that, he scored three more centuries at the same venue against Sri Lanka (2 in 2017 and 1 in 2012).
This is only the 2nd time that a batter has scored 4 consecutive centuries at the same ground. The South African legend Hashim Amla also scored 4 consecutive centuries at Centurion.
Overall ODI record of Virat Kohli:-
The right-hand batter has played 278 ODI matches till now. In 267 innings, he has scored 13024 runs with an average of 57.63 and a strike rate of 93.85. He has scored 47 centuries and 65 half centuries in ODIs till now with the highest score of 183 against Pakistan as well.
Milestone for KL Rahul as well
KL Rahul has also completed 2000 ODI international runs in that game against Pakistan. He achieved this milestone in 53 innings and became one of the fastest to reach 2000 ODI runs. He was out of action for more than 4 months due to injury. But as soon as he came back to the team, he showed his class and showed why Team India wanted him badly.
Overall ODI record of KL Rahul:-
KL Rahul has played 55 ODIs till now. In the 53 innings, he has scored 2097 runs with an average of 47.66 and with a strike rate of 87.38. Till now, he has scored 6 centuries and 13 half-centuries with the highest score of 112.
Pakistan didn’t even come close in a run chase
The Indian pacers started off really well getting the ball to swing and seam. Pakistani batters were clueless against the pacers. Bumrah, Hardik, and Shardul took the first 3 wickets before Kuldeep took over. The wrist-spinner got a 5-wicket haul and wrapped up Pakistan’s inning.
The last two batters didn’t come to bat and Pakistan’s inning ended on just 128.
Conclusion
So India won the first game of the Super 4s in the Asia Cup 2023. Courtesy Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. Let’s see how they go against the home team Sri Lanka in the next game.
