Watch: Viral Video Shows Virat Kohli Requesting Shreyas Iyer To Give Him Strike To Complete His Fifty As He Faces Heat For Prioritising Personal Milestone

Virat Kohli‘s century against Bangladesh in the ongoing World Cup has caused quite a stir in the cricketing fraternity. With Team India all but assured of a win, the former India captain did refuse to take a few singles in order to complete his century.

He and his batting partner KL Rahul turned down nearly five opportunities to run singles as the former inched towards his century.  In the end, he needed 3 runs to complete his ton while India needed only 2 to win the game.

In the 42nd over which turned out to be last over of the game, spinner Nasum Ahmed fired his first ball  down leg side but umpire Richard Kettleborough did not call it a wide. Two balls later, Virat Kohli hit a six to complete his 48th ODI ton and take India home. And while has received praise from several quarters for his performance, he has also received criticism from few quarters for giving so much importance to personal milestones.

While many believe that the senior batsman should have taken the singles and set an example, others believe that there was nothing wrong with his approach. And amidst all this, a video of an incident from India’s match against Afghanistan earlier in the tournament has gone viral.

As Virat Kohli faces the heat for prioritising personal milestones, the viral video claims that Virat Kohli requested his partner Shreyas Iyer to give him the strike so that he could complete his fifty.

Watch:

When Kohli was on 49 runs, he asked for a single from Shreyas Iyer but people say that he does not play for milestones. pic.twitter.com/MDnc4qnvSN

— Lubana Warriors (@LovepreetS49) October 11, 2023

KL Rahul on Virat Kohli not taking singles:

Speaking after the game against Bangladesh, KL Rahul clarified that it was him and not Kohli who decided against taking runs. He claimed that while Kohli was not fully sure of taking the approach of not taking singles, he was the one who convinced the batting superstar to go that way in order to complete his century.

“He [Kohli] was confused, he said it will not look too nice, not to take the single, it’s still a World Cup, and it’s still a big stage. ‘I don’t want to look like I am just trying to get the milestone’,” Rahul told Star Sports.

“But I said, I mean it is not won but still I think we’ll win quite easily, so if you can get to the milestone why not, you must try. And he did that in the end. I wasn’t going to run the singles anyway,” he added.