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Indian batting icon Virat Kohli had a surprise pick for his top ODI knock, choosing his 43 against England in the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy over several of his iconic centuries in the format.
Virat, celebrating his 38th birthday on Thursday after smoking a 51-ball 74 against New Zealand on Wednesday, was speaking in a video posted by Star Sports. In the video, he was tasked with choosing his top ODI knock. Starting off, Virat chose his modest knock of 35 in the 2011 World Cup final, which helped Gautam Gambhir stabilise the chase of 275 runs after the team fell to 31/2, over his iconic 133* against Sri Lanka at Hobart in 2012 during a chase of 321 in 40 overs and 85 against Australia in a low-scoring Cricket World Cup 2023 opener, during which India found themselves three wickets down for just two runs while chasing 199 runs. He chose his 35 in the World Cup final over another chase master-class, a knock of 122 against England in 2017, which came during a chase of 351, with his team at 63/4 at one point. He also did not choose his iconic 160-run knock against South Africa in 2018 at Cape Town, in which he scored 100 runs by just running between the wickets. Tasked to choose between his World Cup final 2011 knock and the CT 2013 final knock against England, Virat finally went with the latter. The knock came with India 66/5 in a rain-curtailed 20 over match, in which he formed a 47-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja, who also made a crucial 33. India sealed the win by five runs. Virat chose this 43-run knock over some other iconic centuries: 183 against Pakistan in 2012 Asia Cup while chasing 330 runs, 138 against South Africa at Chennai in 2015 and his 107 against Pakistan in the CWC 2015, which was the first-ever century in a WC against Pakistan by an Indian batter to finally end the segment. With a 50-over World Cup, a T20 World Cup, two Champions Trophy titles and two Indian Premier League (IPL) titles, Virat is one of the most illustrious cricketers of all time in terms of trophies. He is also the most successful Test captain of India, with 40 wins in 68 matches, losing just 17. In Tests, Virat has represented India in 123 matches, scoring 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, with 30 centuries and 31 fifties. He is the fourth-highest scorer for India in Test cricket. He is the world's second-highest ODI run-getter, with 15,183 runs in 318 matches and 306 innings at an average of 58.84, including a record-breaking 55 centuries and 80 fifties. He is the third-highest run-getter in T20Is, with 4,188 runs in 125 innings at an average of 48.69, with a century and 38 fifties. Across all international cricket, he is the second-highest run-scorer of all time, with 28,601 runs in 566 matches, 633 innings at an average of 52.86, with 86 centuries and 149 fifties, with a best score of 254*. (ANI)
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