India recorded another easy win over Bangladesh to continue their dominance in the ICC World Cup 2023 on Thursday, October 19. Virat Kohli scored his 78th international hundred to help India chase a 257-run target with seven wickets remaining at Pune's Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma gave India a brilliant start with impressive knocks to put India ahead in the chase. But it was Kohli and his unbeaten 89-run stand with KL Rahul that helped India register their fourth straight win in the tournament.
Kohli was batting on 80 runs when India needed 20 runs to win and it seemed impossible for the batter to reach the 100-run mark. But Kohli took the challenge with open arms and managed to score a hundred by smashing a six off Nasum Ahmed in the 43rd over. After the game, KL Rahul revealed how he offered his teammate a chance to cross the 100-run mark and Kohli's concerns regarding fans' feelings.
"I denied the single," KL Rahul said during the post-match presentation. "Virat said it would be bad if you won’t take single, people will think playing for personal milestone but I said we are comfortably winning, you complete your century. When 30 runs were needed, I told Virat that I'll just block, you go for shots. At the end, Virat told me he made it too close for his comfort."
Kohli's 48th ODI century also helped him complete 26,000 runs in international cricket. Kohli became the fastest to 26,000 runs in international cricket and also entered the top five list of batters with the most runs in ODI World Cup history.
Bangladesh Playing XI: Litton Das, Tanzid Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Nasum Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam
India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
