It was clear that Virat Kohli had a strong desire for a century and aimed to stay until the end, with the hope that his signature shot would make a return.
Upon reaching his century, Kohli’s reaction was a testament to the significance of this milestone. While at 97 runs, with India needing just three for victory, he refused a single run after driving the ball to long-on. His partner, KL Rahul, who had previously narrowly missed a century against Australia, was content to stay at his end until Kohli smashed the next ball from spinner Nasum Ahmed over wide midwicket, reaching his century.
With a beaming Mushfiqur Rahim observing from behind the stumps, Kohli raised his bat and took a few steps down the pitch before his emotions overcame him. He turned, bowed his head, and let out a triumphant roar.
Later, he would apologize for taking the Player of the Match award from Ravindra Jadeja, saying, “I wanted to make a significant contribution. I’ve had a few fifties in World Cups but haven’t converted them into hundreds. This time, I simply wanted to finish the game and stay until the end, which is what I’ve done over the years.”
Now that he’s accomplishing what he wished for by staying until the end, it’s possible that his signature Kohli shot – the powerful bottom-hand swat-flick with which he dispatches deliveries to the legside boundary, even those outside off from pacers – will also make a comeback.
Kohli has been working on another shot these days, particularly the pull shot. He has been dismissed twice playing the pull shot in the World Cup. Prior to the toss, he was practicing pulls in the batting nets, trying to get his bat-swing right for the shot.
Although Kohli dealt with a few short balls during his innings, there were no significant issues, as he played the situation perfectly and focused on securing the chase after the openers and Shreyas Iyer fell while going for maximums.
