Virat Kohli's knock against Pakistan instrumental in him finding form: Former India cricketer
Reetinder Sodhi praised Virat Kohli for his contribution to the mammoth partnership with Ishan Kishan and also for scoring his 72nd international hundred in the third ODI against Bangladesh on Saturday.
Kohli failed in the first two ODIs, but normal service resumed in Chattogram as the former Indian captain scored an ODI hundred after more than three years. The satisfaction on his face after he reached the milestone spoke volumes about how good he is feeling mentally at the moment.
Speaking to India News after the game, Sodhi claimed that it was Virat Kohli's incredible knock of 82* against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup that played a big role in him regaining his form. He said:
"I feel Virat's miraculous knock against Pakistan at the T20 World Cup was instrumental in him finding form again. A big player like Kohli needs just one game to get back into his groove. Virat scoring runs is so crucial in the context of the ODI World Cup as the impact he has can hurt the opposition badly."
Credit to Virat Kohli for keeping Ishan Kishan calm: Reetinder Sodhi
Reetinder Sodhi also praised Kohli for proving to be the ideal foil for a belligerent Ishan Kishan in the third ODI. The young southpaw often plays a rash shot in a rush of blood and gets dismissed.
However, when he was close to his maiden hundred and then to his double hundred, Virat Kohli regularly communicated with him to not go for the glory shot and to play his natural game. On this, Sodhi stated:
"We praised Ishan for his incredible knock, but the credit should also be given to Kohli as he kept on talking to the youngster and calmed him down in his nervous 90s."
Kohli has gone past Ricky Ponting's tally of 71 international hundred and now has just the great Sachin Tendulkar's tally of 100 international centuries ahead of him.