"There was no ego in Virat Kohli's batting against South Africa": Aakash Chopra

MUMBAI: Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra said on Monday that star batter showed no ego in his batting during his record-equalling 49th ODI century, pointing out how he allowed Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja to do all the hitting while rotating the strike himself.

Virat tied with Sachin's record of 49 ODI tons while Ravindra Jadeja took a five-wicket haul that dismantled South Africa. In a chase of 327 set largely due to Virat's century and half-century by Shreyas Iyer (77), Jadeja's spin masterclass bundled out Proteas for just 83 and helped India to its eighth successive title win.

Hosting JioCinema's daily sports show '#AAKASHVANI,' Aakash Chopra spoke about Virat Kohli's batting against South Africa at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. "Virat Kohli played in a very composed manner because there was a time when the Indian team looked to be in a slight spot of bother. The ball was not coming on the way they would have liked to and no one was being able to score comfortably off Keshav Maharaj. That is when Shreyas Iyer and Kohli managed to put on a partnership. There was no ego in Kohli's batting. He allowed Shreyas to take over the role of the senior partner although he's the more experienced batsman. Then, Suryakumar Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja came along and hit at will. Kohli was content taking singles."

"He had reached 75 at the end of the 40th over and ended up scoring a run-a-ball 26 by the end of the innings. There has been some discussion around it, whether it was the right or the wrong approach. But then Kohli himself said that the message from the dressing room was that he bat till the end. So, if that was the role assigned to him, he played it to perfection," added Aakash.

Virat is now just one century away from becoming the first player to smash 50 ODI centuries.

Virat's century is also his 79th in international cricket. Virat has smashed 49 centuries in ODIs, 29 in Tests, and one in T20Is.

Virat's record-equalling ton has come at the same ground where he scored his first-ever international ton against Sri Lanka in 2009.

The star batter now has the second-highest number of centuries in international cricket, next to Sachin Tendulkar's 100 centuries.

He also joined an elite company of batters who scored a century on their birthdays. These players include Sachin himself, Vinod Kambli, Sanath Jayasuriya, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, and Mitchell Marsh.

In the eight matches of the ongoing World Cup, Virat has scored 543 runs at an average of 108.40, with two centuries and four fifties. His best score is 103*. He is the second-highest run-getter in the tournament so far.