Shoaib Akhtar Throws New Challenge To 'Something Else' Virat Kohli

Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar hailed Virat Kohli after the India skipper scored his third consecutive ODI century in the ongoing series against Windies.

Different venue, different game, different result but one thing that remained constant was Virat Kohli’s century. The India skipper scored his third century in as many games of the ongoing five-match series. But unfortunately, his latest and 38th ODI ton went in vain as Windies beat India by 43 runs to level the five-match series 1-1.

Captain Kohli walked into bat after Indian openers failed to give the team a good start once again. Rohit Sharma departed after scoring just 8. Kohli added 79 runs with Shikhar Dhawan to bring the chase on track. The right-hander soon went on to reach his fifty while his partners kept on deserting him from the other end. The likes of Ambati Rayudu (22) and Rishabh Pant (24) got the starts but failed to convert. On the other hand, MS Dhoni’s (7) woes with the bat continued as India found themselves five down for 194.

But Kohli kept on going strong and soon scored his third century of the series to keep India in hunt. But the game turned on its head when Marlon Samuels dismissed Virat Kohli for 107 to reduce India to 220 for 7. India were eventually all out for 240 while chasing 284.

Loss apart, Kohli ended up reaching few more milestones again. With his third century in as many games in the series, Kohli became the first Indian to score three consecutive centuries in ODI cricket.  The India skipper also became the first captain to score three consecutive ODI centuries.

This is the second time, Virat Kohli has scored three centuries in a bilateral ODI series. He achieved the feat for the first time during the six-match series against South Africa earlier this year.

And with Kohli looking unstoppable at the moment, Pakistan legend Shoaib Akhtar has challenged him to score 120 international hundreds. Akhtar took to Twitter to hail Kohli, writing:

“Guwahati. Visakhapatnam. Pune. Virat Kohli is something else man with three ODI hundreds in a row, the first India batsman to achieve that .. what a great run machine he is .. Keep it up cross 120 hundred mark as I set up for you .. “

Guwahati. Visakhapatnam. Pune.

Virat Kohli is something else man with three ODI hundreds in a row, the first India batsman to achieve that .. what a great run machine he is ..
Keep it up cross 120 hundred mark as I set up for you ..

— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) October 27, 2018