Virat Kohli, the Greatest of all Time, ascended the pinnacle of ODI glory at the revered Wankhede … and then the King bowed down to the GOD
A jump and first pump in the air later, Virat Kohli was down on his knees. A gentle look to the heavens and he flashed a smile before soaking it all in. The entire Wankhede was up on its feet to applaud the extraordinary feat but Kohli had his eyes locked towards the dressing room, and the MCA President Box where his wife Anushka Sharma and hero Sachin Tendulkar were seated.
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Out came the helmet, the gloves were on the ground and in came the bow down to the great man in the stands. Tendulkar was on his feet too and was applauding continuously as a teary-eyed Anushka blew kisses to her better half, who responded after completing the bow-down and paying his respect to the great man after breaking the record he had held for more than a decade. By all means, this was a special moment where emotions ran high.
And Wankhede makes it all the more special. At the very ground many moons ago, Kohli had carried Tendulkar on his shoulders post the 2011 World Cup win and took the weight of billion hopes on his.
Cut to 2023: Kohli goes past Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI hundreds with the great man in the stands and his life-size statue keeping a close watch from near the Sachin Tendulkar end. It can’t get better than this. The script can’t get better for Virat Kohli as the boy from West Delhi, the King of ODI cricket, has now deservingly earned a new title in the format, the GOAT title!
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Always when, never how!
Much like his 49th, much like his 48th or much like his any hundred, even during the period where they weren’t coming like the always did, it was always the question of when and not how. This World Cup, there has been an air of invincibility in the way he has gone about doing business and the role of taking innings deep has allowed him to drop anchor and grind and construct innings in the manner only he can.
Four boundaries and he got to fifty on back of the usual ones and twos here and there, literally everywhere. But it’s those little moments where he makes you go wow and turns an old-fashioned grind into a dominating knock. That little moment came shortly after crossing fifty when he read a Tim Southee slower one early and just whipped it with disdain towards the mid-wicket region.
Not many play the whip like Kohli does and it had been one of his most productive shots for better part of his career and when he still plays it, it definitely makes you go wow. There was, however, a double wow in store few deliveries later when he had that little dab towards the third-man boundary which threaded two fielders in the ring with perfection.
117, 51, 101*, 88, 0, 95, 103*, 16, 55* and 85. This has been a sensational World Cup for Virat Kohli where he has also gone past Tendulkar’s tally (673 runs in 2003) of most runs in a single edition and could well have another chance to swell his 711-run* tally further. Not once in the tournament has he looked flustered or overawed by the occasions. Yes, there have been some nervy moments (read Australia game) and some slowing down near the hundred but all in all he has aced his anchor role to perfection, and put on a similar show at the iconic W today.
‘Stuff of dreams’
Before he could soak it all in and come back to reality, Kohli was asked about the feeling, the moment and the celebration after scoring the 50th and the run-machine still seemed in dreamy mode.
“As I said stuff of dreams. Anushka (Sharma) was sitting right there, Sachin (Tendulkar) paaji was here too. Difficult to explain this. If I could paint a perfect picture, I would want this to be the picture. My life partner, the person I love the most is sitting there, my hero is sitting there and I was able to get the 50th (ODI hundred) in front of all of them and all these stands in Wankhede as well, such a history venue so it was amazing,” says Kohli during the mid-innings break.
The great man too was very proud of Kohli overtaking his tally and how he made it look very easy!
“A big, big congratulations to Virat, he made it look easy, he’s gone to 50 hundreds in ODI format. Incredible, super, we are all super proud of him,” says Tendulkar during mid-innings show also featuring David Beckham.
It could well be one of the most emotionally overwhelming evenings of Kohli’s career as under the gaze of greats – Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Viv Richards – he showed why he is well and truly the ODI great.
