[Watch] Virat Kohli and Tim Southee engage in playful banter during IND vs NZ semi-final
Team India's star batter Virat Kohli shared a light-hearted moment with New Zealand pacer Tim Southee during the 2023 World Cup semi-final in Mumbai on Wednesday.
The incident took place after the end of the 26th over of the Indian innings. Southee, who was at mid-on, appeared to have said something to Kohli. The Indian batter can be seen walking towards Southee.
However, it wasn't a heated exchange by any means, as it ended with both of them laughing following the brief conversation.
Watch the clip here:
Virat Kohli continued his impressive form with the bat, notching up a stunning century in the crucial knockout fixture. The seasoned campaigner scored 117 runs off 113 balls, including nine boundaries and two sixes.
With the hundred, Kohli also broke Sachin Tendulkar's record for the most ODI tons. He became the first-ever player to hit 50 centuries in the format.
"All this feels like a dream, too good to be true" - Virat Kohli on his historic 50th ODI ton
Speaking at a mid-innings interview, Virat Kohli admitted that completing 50 ODI centuries in front of his idol, Sachin Tendulkar, seems surreal to him.
Shedding light on his role, he mentioned that he was asked to play the anchor's role in the 2023 World Cup so that the other batters could score freely.
"I said in Kolkata, the great man (Sachin Tendulkar) just congratulated me," Kohli said. "All this feels like a dream, too good to be true. Feels surreal for me. Again a big game today, I had to play the role I have played throughout the tournament so that the guys around me can go and express themselves.
"Just glad everything came together so nicely and we put up a great total on the board as well."
Kohli also expressed his delight at completing the significant milestone in front of his wife Anushka Sharma and his idol Sachin Tendulkar. He added:
"As I said stuff of dreams. Anushka was sitting right there, Sachin 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."
Virat Kohli also became the first batter to cross the 700-run mark in a single edition in World Cup history. He has mustered 711 runs from 10 outings at an average of over 101.57.