Former India cricketer Mohammed Kaif lauded the immense faith fans continue to place in Virat Kohli after a striking moment during India’s first ODI against New Zealand in Vadodara highlighted the batter’s towering stature.
At the BCA Stadium in Kotambi, a young fan grabbed attention by holding a placard stating he would not eat for a week if Kohli failed to score a century. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Kaif used the incident to underline the extraordinary expectations that follow Kohli everywhere. He noted how fans judge Kohli by a different benchmark, where even a match-winning knock can feel incomplete without a three-figure score.
Kaif explained that while other players are celebrated for 30s or 50s, Kohli is expected to score a hundred every time he walks out to bat. He praised Kohli’s consistency, aggression and dominance, adding that the batter’s intent was clear from the very first ball he faced in the match.
On the field, Kohli came agonisingly close to meeting those expectations. Chasing 301, he was dismissed for a fluent 93 by Kyle Jamieson, falling just seven runs short of what would have been his 54th ODI century. India, however, completed the chase to seal a four-wicket win.
Despite missing the hundred, Kohli achieved major milestones during the innings. He became the fastest player to reach 28,000 international runs, doing so in 624 innings, and also surpassed Kumar Sangakkara to move into second place on the all-time international run-scoring list, with only Sachin Tendulkar ahead of him.
