Virat Kohli was at his absolute best in the third ODI against Australia in Ranchi. He notched up his 41st ODI century. Kohli was in full flow and hit 16 fours and a six in his majestic 95-ball 123 run knock. Kohli’s last seven 50+ ODI scores in India have been: 121, 113, 140, 157*, 107, 116, 123. Unfortunately, his knock couldn’t help India win the game and they lost the game by 32 runs. But, India are still leading the series 2-1 in the five-match ODI series.
The whole world is in awe of Kohli. And former Aussie opener, Matthew Hayden is no different. “Absolutely staggering. I am trying to think back, check the memory banks of brilliant players over the years. Maybe Brian Lara in his heyday, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly all these players have been on top of their game at various points in one-day cricket. But Virat Kohli is doing it so easy. He is drifting away to a hundred. Not only that, just the way he is transcending every game seems to be a different performance,” Hayden said during the post-match show at Star Sports after Australia’s win on Friday.
“Tonight, on a better wicket, he made it look so easy. He does play out of his skin. It was outstanding, no area was untouched. We all know he loves playing through the mid-wicket area but tonight he played some cut shots and took on the spinners. It was just a remarkable innings, can’t say anything more than that. I think he has always got great energy and the intent and he’s got the fitness to be able to do it. It’s almost like one performance leads to the next. His tempo is incredible. We saw the likes of Vijay that had an opportunity to bat with him. That’s only going to be good for India ahead of the World Cup,” Hayden added.