New Delhi, Nov 30 (IANS) Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif lauded talismanic batter Virat Kohli’s impressive show in the ongoing first ODI against South Africa and said that the veteran batter has a “zidd to prove his critics wrong.”

Virat Kohli made a threatening start to his innings and has looked dangerous as he raced to 22 off 20 and soon completed his 76th ODI half-century in just 48 balls with a maximum against Corbin Bosch, and is going strong, having scored a century in the 38th over with a boundary.

“Virat Kohli has a zidd to prove his critics wrong.. King for a reason,’ Kaif posted on X.

Moreover, Kohli, along with former skipper Rohit Sharma, broke the all-time Indian record held by Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid for having played the most international games together during the first ODI against South Africa in Ranchi on Sunday.

Kohli, playing his 306th ODI, and Rohit, playing in his 277th one-day international, combined for their 392nd international match together across formats, surpassing the legendary duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, who appeared in a whopping 391 games between 1996 and 2012.

Rohit and Virat also stitched a 136-run stand for the second wicket after the two joined forces when opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was caught behind off Nandre Burger with India’s score at 25. This was the 20th stand of 100 runs or more between the two.

Kaif also heaped praise on Rohit for his 57-run innings, during which he shattered the former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi’s world record for most sixes in ODIs by hitting three maximums.

In the 15th over, Rohit hit Prenelan Subrayen for back-to-back sixes. With the first hit, he completed 350 career maximums, becoming the only Indian batter to achieve the feat in the 50-over format. After the second hit, the 37-year-old equalled Afridi’s record for most ODI sixes.

“Rohit Sharma is letting his bat do the talking and telling the world that age is just a number. What a player,” Kaif wrote in another post.

–IANS

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