ICC CWC 2023: “I denied him a single…”: KL Rahul on helping Virat reach century against Bangladesh

Pune (Maharashtra) [India]: India wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul said on Thursday following the win over Bangladesh that Virat Kohli was initially hesitant to complete his century and chase the milestone, but he denied Virat a single to let him complete his century.

India secured a win over Bangladesh in an ICC Cricket World Cup match at Pune and a very special part of this win was Virat’s 48th ODI ton and how KL and he rotated strike to help the latter reach his first WC century since 2015. KL was absolutely selfless, denying singles to keep Virat on strike so that he could reach his century.

“I denied the single. Virat said it would be bad if you would not take single, people will think playing for personal milestones but I said we are comfortably winning, you go for your shots, complete your century.

I said ‘it is not won, but I mean we will still win this very easily. If you can get to the milestone, you must try’. And he did that in the end” said KL to Star Sports after the win.

Coming to the match, Bangladesh opted to bat first and there was a 91-run opening stand between Tanzid Hasan (51 in 43 balls with four boundaries and three sixes) and Litton Das (66 in 82 balls, with seven fours).

Following that, Bangladesh kept losing wickets at regular intervals, though important knocks came from Mahmudullah (46 in 36 balls, with three fours and three sixes) and wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim (38 in 46 balls, with a four and six) that took Bangladesh to 256/8 in 50 overs. India needs 257 to win their fourth successive game.

Ravindra Jadeja (2/38) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/41) were the pick of the bowlers for India. Mohammed Siraj took two wickets as well while Kuldeep Yadav and Shardul Thakur got one each.

In the chase of 257, skipper Rohit Sharma (48 in 40 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Shubman Gill (53 in 55 balls with five fours and two sixes) decided the outcome with their partnership itself. Virat’s century and partnership with KL Rahul (34*), which saw some entertaining running between the wickets was an icing on the cake.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz took two wickets for Bangladesh and was the pick of the bowlers.
With four wins in four matches, India is in the second spot in the points table with eight points. New Zealand is at the top with a better net-run-rate. Bangladesh is in the seventh spot with one win and three losses.

Virat became the ‘Man of the Match’ for his ton.