“Those saying all these are jealous of him” - Brian Lara on claims of Virat Kohli being selfish during 2023 World Cup
West Indies batting great Brian Lara slammed critics who claimed that Virat Kohli was selfish during the 2023 World Cup and played for personal milestones. Hitting out at such experts, Lara opined that the criticism stemmed from jealousy towards Kohli’s incredible achievements in cricket.
Kohli had a record-breaking 2023 World Cup. He smashed 765 runs in 11 innings at an average of 95.62 and a strike rate of 90.32. The right-handed batter thus became the first player to score more than 700 runs in a single edition of the World Cup. The previous record for most runs in a World Cup edition was held by Sachin Tendulkar (673 runs in 2003).
While most cricket pundits hailed Kohli for his achievements, some like Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez labeled him as selfish, claiming he slowed down to ensure he scored hundreds. Disagreeing with such observations, Lara told Anandabazar Patrika:
"Those [who] are saying all these are jealous of him. They are envious of the amount of runs he has scored. I have faced this too in my career.”
Kohli scored three hundreds in the 2023 World Cup. He hit an unbeaten 103 against Bangladesh in Pune. Then, on his 35th birthday, he scored 101* against South Africa in Kolkata to equal Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI tons in the presence of the Master Blaster.
Kohli went past Tendulkar’s tally by notching up his 50th one-day hundred in the semi-final against New Zealand in Mumbai.
“I'm a big fan of his discipline and dedication” - Lara hails Kohli
Despite his tremendous form, Lara is not sure of Kohli going on to break Tendulkar’s record of 100 international hundreds. He, however, admitted that if anyone can come close to breaking the record, it is Kohli.
"Only Kohli can come close. I'm a big fan of his discipline and dedication. The way he prepares for a match by giving it his all… how can you not be his fan," the 54-year-old said in praise of the Indian batter," Lara said.
"My best wishes are with him. I'd be very happy if he could score 100 centuries like Tendulkar. Sachin was a dear friend and like I said before, I'm a big fan of Kohli," he added.
Kohli has 26,532 runs to his name in international cricket from 518 matches at an average of 54.36, with 80 hundreds and 138 fifties.