"My role was to bat deep" - Virat Kohli after his masterful century in IND vs SA 2023 World Cup clash

Indian star Virat Kohli has revealed that his role was to take the innings as deep as possible in the 2023 World Cup clash against South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday. Kohli underlined that the pitch started playing tricks after the 10th over and lauded Shreyas Iyer for the way he batted.

The 35-year-old scored a masterful hundred against an all-round bowling attack of the Proteas at the Eden Gardens, notably equaling Sachin Tendulkar's tally of 49 ODI tons. He managed only 10 boundaries, but ran hard to keep the scoreboard ticking.

At the innings break, the right-hander lauded Rohit Sharma for getting India off to a great start and added that the plan was for everyone to bat around him.

He said:

"It was a wicket that was tricky to bat on, we got a great start from Rohit and Shubman, my job was to keep it going on. The ball started gripping and turning after the 10th over, it slowed down and then my role was to bat deep with the others playing around me.

"That was what was communicated to me by the team management, Shreyas played well and we got a few more runs towards the end."

Kohli underlined that Hardik Pandya's absence exposed them slightly and he discussed with Iyer about the need to rotate strike.

He said:

"We had a lot of chats during the Asia Cup, we bat at 3 and 4, so this was the partnership that was needed to take the game forward. We don't have Hardik in the team, so we knew a wicket or two could cost us, we had to dig deep and take the match deep. I'm grateful to god for giving me the chance to play and contribute to the team's success."

By scoring a World Cup ton on his birthday, Kohli also became only the third player to do so after Ross Taylor and Mitchell Marsh.

"The pitch is on the slower side" - Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli (Image Credits: Twitter)

The former Indian captain believes the hosts have plenty of runs to play with and predicted the pitch to play plenty of tricks in the second half. On this, he said:

"It's great to get a hundred on my birthday in front of this big crowd at this great venue. The pitch is on the slower side, we have a quality bowling line-up as well, but we'll have to work hard. Wickets will be the key, getting a couple early will put them under pressure with the way this pitch is behaving."

India are also the only unbeaten side in the 2023 World Cup, while the Proteas have lost once.