Former fast bowler Venkatesh Prasad has slammed the critics, who have called former India captain Virat Kohli selfish for focusing on personal milestones rather than the team in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023.
After India lost back to back wickets of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill against South Africa on Sunday, Kohli had the task of stitching a partnership and reconstructing India on a tricky Kolkata pitch. Star India batter didn’t disappoint and hit his 49th ODI century on his 35th birthday to equal the legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of hundreds in the 50-over cricket.
However, Kohli faced flak on social media for not accelerating despite spending so much time on the pitch. The 35-year old had earlier also faced criticism for consuming more deliveries solely to score his century and instead prioritizing the team’s scoring rate in the game against New Zealand.
Now, former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad has lashed out at Kohli’s critics on social media and lauded the batter for “setting new benchmarks” and following his dreams.
“Hearing funny arguments about Virat Kohli being Selfish and obsessed with personal milestone. Yes Kohli is selfish, selfish enough to follow the dream of a billion people, selfish enough to strive for excellence even after achieving so much, selfish enough to set new benchmarks, selfish enough to ensure his team wins. Yes, Kohli is selfish,” the 54-year-old wrote on X.
During his century knock against South Africa, Kohli also crossed 6000 ODI runs at home. He also overtook Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara to become the third-highest run-scorer in Men’s ODI World Cup. The ‘chasemaster’ is now only behind his compatriot Sachin Tendulkar and Australia’s Ricky Ponting in the World Cup run-getters tally.
Riding on Kohli’s unbeaten 101 and Ravindra Jadeja’s sensational fifer (5 for 33), India registered a dominating 243-run win over South Africa on Sunday to keep their unbeaten run intact at the ongoing World Cup.
With the whopping win, their eighth on the trot, India ensured their top spot at the points table while South Africa, who have also made the semi-finals, will hope to take learnings away from the game ahead of the knockout phase.