Indian cricket player Ravindra Jadeja gave kudos to senior player Virat Kohli. This was after Kohli scored his 49th ODI century in a 2023 World Cup game versus South Africa. This game was held at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on a Sunday. Ravindra Jadeja expressed that this achievement was notable. Not only because it put Kohli on par with Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most ODI hundreds. But also due to the fact that it was tough to bat during the initial innings of the match.
Kohli, who turned 35 on Sunday, was named Player of the Match for his 101* off 121 balls as India defeated South Africa by 243 runs in Kolkata. India batted first and then rolled over South Africa for 83 runs in 27.1 overs.
During the post-match news conference, Ravindra Jadeja stated that the track at Eden Gardens aided spinners more in the afternoon than it did in the evening.
“I think this will be very special for Virat himself. It was a very tough pitch and at times, it seemed that even 260-270 looked par. He rotated the strike and at stage when runs dried up and their spinners were bowling well, to rotate strike and remain not out while taking score beyond 300, it takes effort,” the seasoned all-rounder commented.
Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja elaborated on Kohli’s innings, saying that while stroke-making was difficult in the afternoon, the No. 3 hitter handled the South African spinners extremely well on a sluggish surface.
“When they bowled, there was more help from the track, there was more turn on offer and wicket didn’t have bounce also. If you ask for my opinion, the pitch became easier for batting in the evening compared to afternoon, may be not easy but okay for batting.”
“But in the afternoon, it was a slow turner. You couldn’t hit big shots. Credit how Virat handled their spinners. We always had an idea that Kolkata is a low bounce track that aids spinners. We knew wicket would play slow.”
Ravindra Jadeja
Kohli and Shreyas Iyer (77 off 87) added 134 runs to the Indian innings after Rohit Sharma (40 off 24) got the side off to a fast start.
India chose to bat first to test themselves, says Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja stated that the choice to bat first after winning the toss was made to test themselves. He stated that India intended to put their ball abilities to the test if the dew fell, with the semi-finals in mind.
“We wanted to challenge ourselves. Had we bowled at afternoon, we wouldn’t have given so many runs. We wanted to see how we could bowl if dew sets in and if knock-outs, if we get such a situation.”
Ravindra Jadeja
Jadeja played a fantastic match, scoring 29* off 15 and winning 5/33.