“This will be very special for Virat; it was a very tough pitch” - Ravindra Jadeja hails Kohli after batter’s 49th ODI ton

Team India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja hailed senior batter Virat Kohli after the latter notched up his 49th ODI ton in the 2023 World Cup match against South Africa at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday. According to Jadeja, the knock was special not only because Kohli equaled Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most ODI hundreds, but also because conditions for batting were challenging in the first innings.

Kohli, who also celebrated his 35th birthday on Sunday, was Player of the Match for his 101* off 121 balls as India thumped the Proteas by 243 runs in Kolkata. India put up 326/5 batting first and then rolled over South Africa for 83 in 27.1 overs.

At the post-match press conference, Jadeja opined that the track at Eden Gardens offered more assistance to spinners in the afternoon as compared to when India bowled in the evening.

"I think this will be very special for Virat himself. It was a very tough pitch and at times, it seemed that even 260-270 looked par. He rotated the strike and at stage when runs dried up and their spinners were bowling well, to rotate strike and remain not out while taking score beyond 300, it takes effort," the seasoned all-rounder commented.

Elaborating on Kohli’s knock, Jadeja added that stroke-making was not easy in the afternoon, but the No. 3 batter handled the South African spinners very well on a slow track.

"When they bowled, there was more help from the track, there was more turn on offer and wicket didn't have bounce also. If you ask for my opinion, the pitch became easier for batting in the evening compared to afternoon, may be not easy but okay for batting," the 34-year-old said.

"But in the afternoon, it was a slow turner. You couldn't hit big shots. Credit how Virat handled their spinners. We always had an idea that Kolkata is a low bounce track that aids spinners. We knew wicket would play slow,” Jadeja continued.

Kohli and Shreyas Iyer (77 off 87) consolidated the Indian innings with a third-wicket stand of 134 after Rohit Sharma (40 off 24) got the team off to a flying start.

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“We wanted to challenge ourselves” - Jadeja on decision to bat first

On the decision to bat first after winning the toss, Jadeja said that it was a move to challenge themselves. He explained that India wanted to test their skills with the ball if the dew set in, keeping the semi-finals in mind.

"We wanted to challenge ourselves. Had we bowled at afternoon, we wouldn't have given so many runs. We wanted to see how we could bowl if dew sets in and if knock-outs, if we get such a situation," the all-rounder concluded.

Jadeja, himself, had a memorable match, scoring 29* off 15 and then claiming 5/33.