Virat Kohli pushed himself to his limits to help India level series

Kohli walking back to the pavilion after facing the heat in Chennai

Star batsman Virat Kohli scored a match-winning century to calm his critics during the fourth one-day international against South Africa at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. With the win, team India leveled the five-match series by 2-2.

Kohli played aggressively and responsibly, and his back-to-back century partnerships with Ajinkya Rahane and then Suresh Raina were the pillars of the Indian innings. He made 138 off 140 balls at a strike rate of 98.57.

His innings included six boundaries and five huge sixes around the park. Kohli led the Indian batting and helped them post a 300-run target for the South African team.

The Proteas failed in front of the Indian spinners and were restricted to 264 for 9 in their quota of 50 overs. Kohli’s century came after 13 long innings and it was indeed a special one.

Speaking about his master-class match-winning knock in an interview with bcci.tv, Kohli said this century is really special because it came when India needed such an innings the most.

“It feels really special to get a big hundred especially when we were 2-1 down in the series. The team winning and you getting a hundred is obviously a very special day,” Kohli said.

The scorching sun plus humidity at the Chepauk made it really difficult for everyone to survive on the pitch for long, but Kohli stayed on the crease for almost three hours and 30 minutes. His innings was applauded by many because of the challenging conditions and the quality of the pace attack he faced.

The 26-year-old made it a point to say that he had to push himself to his limits to scores those extra 30-40 runs after his century which helped India post a competitive target.

“I knew that this pitch was probably a 260-270 pitch, but I pushed myself after I got my hundred. I was getting a bit of cramps but I told myself, if I can get 30 or 35 more runs here, the team will probably get to 300.

“It is one of my more challenging innings in ODI cricket specially because of the bowling attack they have. South Africa have been bowling pretty well in the series in the right areas,” he said.

Kohli’s knock included 66 singles and 9 doubles, meaning he ran a lot in the Chennai heat. He did get cramps ultimately and looked really tired after doing everything he could. Talking about the same, he said: “The pitch wasn’t that quick for us to get boundaries throughout. So I had to run a lot and keep pushing the boundary fielders and keep looking for those gaps so that I could keep running through the innings.

Probably, that is why in the end I started cramping because the body took a lot of toll. I would have done that for maybe an hour more until I fell on the ground. But we have leveled the series, so it feels brilliant,” the vice-captain added.

The five-match ODI series is level at 2-2 now and the final match will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on October 25. Giving an update on his cramps, Kohli said that he is fit and ready face the heat in the series decider in Mumbai.

“Yes, I am fine. The body stopped cramping when I came inside in the second innings, but when I was on the field; it felt a bit dicey. So the physio told me not to take a chance which could result into a muscle tear which might take a month and a half to heal,” he concluded.