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DUBAI: Virat Kohli is set for his 300th ODI on Sunday in the latest landmark for the Indian batting great after silencing doubts over his form and future with a match-winning Champions Trophy century.
India face New Zealand in their last group match in Dubai with both teams already into the semifinals of the 50-over tournament.
Called “King Kohli” for his prolific run-scoring, the batsman went through an extended lean patch with speculation swirling that he and skipper Rohit Sharma could soon retire. They have already quit T20Is.
But Kohli roared back with an unbeaten 100 in their win over arch-rivals Pakistan to take them to the brink of the semifinals, which they reached after a New Zealand win.
Kohli, 36, rolled back the years with his first ODI century since November 2023 as he took his time before bossing the opposition bowlers.
Teammate KL Rahul said the veteran has still a lot left in the tank.
“That (300) is a lot of ODI games and a lot of international games and he’s been... I mean words fall short to express how good a player he’s been and what a great servant of Indian cricket he’s been,” Rahul told reporters on Friday in Dubai.
“Really happy to see that he got the 100 last game as well and he’s been batting really well.
“For a player of his calibre it was about time that he scores that big century and a match-winning century.”
Rahul added: “Virat and Rohit, they are the senior players and you are always looking up to them to step up and score when the big games come.
“Hopefully there’s many more hundreds left for him (Kohli) and many more games of international cricket.”
Both Kohli and Rohit retired from T20 internationals after India’s triumph in the World Cup last year.
Kohli went past 14,000 ODI runs early in his innings against Pakistan, becoming only the third batsman to achieve the milestone after Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara.
The knock was Kohli’s 51st ODI ton in 299 matches since his debut in 2008. He has 82 hundreds across the three international formats.
Kohli is the 22nd player in history and seventh Indian to enter the 300 club.
Tendulkar tops the list with 463 ODIs.
“I think that’s obviously a massive achievement,” New Zealand all-rounder Michael Bracewell said of Kohli’s longevity.
“Three hundred games across a career is very impressive and then to put that in just one format is amazing.
“I think it’s a testament to the way that he’s gone about his career.”
Bracewell played with Kohli at Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League and said he was looking forward to facing him on Sunday.
“I saw it first hand at RCB how he sort of prepared for each match and it’s very impressive,” said Bracewell.
“He’s one of a number of class players in the Indian line-up and they’ve all played a lot of cricket now.”
Kohli has endured plenty of bumps along the way.
He won the 2011 ODI World Cup under M.S. Dhoni and then took over as captain.
Kohli helped India get back to the top of the Test rankings but he was unable to deliver the cricket-crazy nation a global title.
That drought, combined with his runs drying up, saw Kohli removed as ODI captain after giving up the T20 job.
Kohli gave up leading the Test side too and later talked about his mental struggles during his dry phase, including how he had been “snappy” around wife Anushka Sharma.
Known to wear his heart on his sleeve, Kohli has never shied away from a battle on the field and despite the odd controversy, is a hero to Indian fans.
Supporters invading the pitch to touch his feet and take selfies are regular occurrences at Indian venues.