Cricket World Cup: Virat Kohli celebrates after scoring his 50th ODI ton.© AFP
Virat Kohli scaled the ‘Mount 50′ on Wednesday, and former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly had little doubt that the batting star has many more miles to traverse in his career. Kohli made his 50th ODI hundred during the World Cup semifinal against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium, going one ahead of his idol Sachin Tendulkar. “It will take a lot of beating to go past this and he’s not finished yet. It’s a phenomenal achievement,” Ganguly said during an interaction with reporters at the Eden Gardens.
The 35-year-old reached the milestone in the 42nd over off the bowling of Kiwis pacer Lockie Ferguson as India set New Zealand a staggering target of 398 in the last-four match at Mumbai.
Ganguly lauded the Indian team for playing an astounding brand of cricket. “India are playing incredible cricket at the moment. Be it Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer or the bowlers.
“It’s a complete side, there is tremendous talent in this team. But We need to take one step at a time,” Ganguly said.
‘Nothing wrong with Wankhede pitch’
A pitch controversy has threatened to take some sheen off India’s performance during the World Cup semifinal with reports claiming that the hosts have changed the Wankhede surface at the last minute and opted for a “slow track.” Ganguly refused to agree with that and said the pitch was a “fair one”.
“It looks like a good pitch on which they are playing. It’s the same for both teams. There is nothing wrong with the Wankhede pitch,” Ganguly said.
Ganguly, a former BCCI president, was also seen inspecting the Eden strip on which the second World Cup semifinal between Australia and South Africa will be played on Thursday.
Ganguly observed both the ends of the pitch and then checked the soil firmness.
The pitch on offer for the match between Australia and South Africa is also a used one on which England faced Pakistan in a group phase match.
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