‘You want your milestones…’ – Star India batter’s cryptic take on Virat Kohli’s approach against Bangladesh creates stir on social media

Ahead of India’s clash against New Zealand star India batter Virat Kohli, he faces criticism on social media. Kohli’s approach for his 48th ODI tonne received mixed reactions on social media. While some praised the former India skipper’s fitness level, others questioned his approach.

Adding to the ongoing debate, India batter Cheteshwar Pujara took a dig at Kohli’s approach. While speaking with ESPNcricinfo, Pujara said that he also wanted Kohli to score that century, but not at the cost of the net run rate. He said one should always want to keep their team’s NRR at the top. He said that in the future if the team fights with NRR, this might hurt India.

“As much as I wanted Virat Kohli to score that hundred, you have to keep in mind that you want to finish the game as early as possible. You want your net run rate to be at the top. If you are in a position where you are fighting for the net run rate, then you don’t want to look back and say, ‘You could have done that’,” said Pujara.

“You have to sacrifice a bit”, says Cheteshwar Pujara 

Further speaking about the same, Pujara said that while thinking about a team’s collective effort, one has to sacrifice personal milestones. “That’s where I feel that, as a collective decision, maybe you have to sacrifice a bit. You want to look at the team; you want to put the team first. That’s how I look at it. You want your milestone, but not at the cost of the team”, says Pujara.

“As a player, you always have a choice. But some players feel that if they get a hundred, it helps them in the next game. So it depends on what kind of mindset you have,” he added. However, Pujara praised Kohli’s batting abilities on the slow wicket. He said, “The pitch was getting slower and slower, and it was becoming more difficult to bat. So Virat slowed down a bit to make sure that he didn’t get out. And it worked out for him because he was able to get a century.”

It’s worth noting that India will next lock horns with table-toppers New Zealand at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala on October 22. Both teams are coming here with four out of four wins and will look to continue their winning run. However, India will also want to avenge their 2019 World Cup semifinal defeat against the Kane Williamson-less Kiwis.