Virat Kohli’s stunning century helped India beat their arch-rivals, Pakistan, by 228 runs on Monday, 11 September. However, barely a few hours after the win, the men in blue will take the field once again, for their second 2023 Asia Cup Super Four clash, against Sri Lanka.
After his century, Kohli credited his Test experience for helping him deal with continuous cricket over three consecutive days. In the post-match presentation, the batter said “I was pushing for those runs and happy for it, but I was thinking I need to play at 3pm tomorrow.”
"It is the first time I have done anything like this in 15 years of cricket. Luckily we are Test players, so we know how to come back the next day and play. Recovery is crucial. It was humid out there today. I am 35 in November, so I need to take care of my recovery," he further added.
Speaking about his and Rahul’s performance, Kohli said, “Both KL and I are both conventional players. And when you have him batting the way he was and me playing, it's tough to break these partnerships because we don't play fancy shots. We didn't think about the partnership too much, the idea was to 'keep batting.' It is one of the most memorable partnerships we've had and for Indian cricket as well. He hit form for us straightaway, good for us.”
Kohli smashed 122 runs off just 94 deliveries while Rahul scored 111 off 106 deliveries. Their partnership helped the Indian team build a strong total, which Pakistan could not chase and eventually lost the Super Four match. Apart from Rahul and Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill also smashed a half-century each in the beginning to provide a strong foundation to the team.
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