Virat Kohli came close to breaking his century of drought as he was batting against South Africa in the third ODI in Cape Town. He was eventually out for 63, but till the very moment, it seemed Kohli was set for glory before he was castled by Kesav Maharaj. His last international century came way back in November 2019. In fact, an ODI century came back in August 2019 against West Indies, more than two years ago!. He would have surely given a reason to the Indian fans to celebrate after being 0-2 down, instead, none of that happened as he got out; India went on to lose the game which ultimately sealed the deal for South Africa 3-0.
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Meanwhile one of the finest pacers who came into his very own was Mohammed Shami. Not to forget that it was under Kohli that his career blossomed. So when he was asked about Kohli’s century drought, Shami said that players of Kohli’s caliber shouldn’t be judged on just a century.
“So what, if he (Kohli) has not scored a century. A century doesn’t define how big a player he is. It is not that he has not scored runs. He has scored fifties consistently in the recent past and there is no reason why we should even think like that. A fifty or a sixty is also a score and as long as it is helping the team, there is no reason to complain,” Shami told India.com,
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Kohli’s test leadership played a big role in Shami’s career. It was under Kohli’s leadership some of his epic performances came to the fore. He credited the captain for bringing in that ‘energy’ and giving them the freedom to ‘express’ themselves.
“Kohli’s energy is the best thing and that rubs on to the rest of the team. He is a bowler’s captain and always gave us the freedom to express ourselves. He would always take our opinion and ask for options,” Shami further said.
“We have spent so much time together and there are so many memorable moments. It will always remain with me and it is difficult to pick or choose any one such moment,” he further said.
Shami, who didn’t play the ODI series, accounted for 14 wickets in the recent Test series against South Africa. Although he will not be featuring in the home series against West Indies.
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