” It was pretty ordinary bowling…..” Gambhir gives a bold statement on Kohli’s century against Sri Lanka
Virat Kohli, the former captain of India, had a strong start to 2023 after scoring his 45th ODI century against Sri Lanka in the opening match at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. The legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s astounding record of hitting 20 centuries in a nation, the joint-most by any batter, was matched by the batting superstar. Although Gautam Gambhir, a former Indian opener, hailed Kohli’s record-equaling performance, he believed it was more difficult to score runs during Sachin’s time.
Last month, Virat Kohli ended his ODI century drought against Bangladesh in Chattogram, and he scored his second straight century against Sri Lanka exactly one month later. The batting master was at his erratic best throughout his time in the middle, despite the visitors giving him two lives. Former Indian cricketer and Kohli’s senior professional during the 2011 World Cup, Gautam Gambhir, complimented the batting sensation for his most recent accomplishment.
However, Gambhir, who during his playing career shared a dressing room with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, believed that scoring runs back then was more difficult because the field limits weren’t as beneficial as they are now.
Gambhir said, “you can’t compare Virat with Sachin. In Sachin’s era, there weren’t 5 players inside the 30-yard circle.”
After the first innings, the ex-cricketer-turned-expert spoke candidly about the Sri Lankan bowlers. He was let down by the visitors’ lackluster bowling effort against a strong Indian team.
He further added, “It was pretty ordinary bowling. The top three of the Indian batting line-up have got lots and lots of runs behind them. Rohit and Kohli obviously, and Shubman also can get so many runs in international cricket. And how easy it was for Rohit and Shubman to get runs today. That was a surprise for me. You have to be consistent and Sri Lanka’s bowling outing was very very disappointing for me.”
