“What’s the problem?” - X users question journalist for Virat Kohli rant over batter "turning down" singles for ton

Team India batter Virat Kohli scored a brilliant hundred in the 2023 World Cup match against Bangladesh at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Thursday. The 34-year-old hit 103* off 97 balls as the Men in Blue chased down 257 in 41.3 overs with seven wickets in hand.

Bangladesh won the toss and batted first in the game, posting a disappointing 256/8 in their 20 overs. In the chase, Rohit Sharma (48 off 40) and Shubman Gill (53 off 55) got the Men in Blue off to a great start, adding 88 runs for the first wicket.

Kohli then guided the chase, hitting six fours and four sixes in his unbeaten ton. Towards the end of the match, the batter “turned down” a few singles as he was approaching a hundred. The right-hander got there in the 42nd over with a six off Nasum Ahmed, which also brought up the winning runs for India.

An X user [a journalist] was, however, unhappy with Kohli turning down singles to get to a hundred. He went on a rampage on social media and put up a series of posts hitting out at the batter.

“If Kohli is turning down singles with 7 wickets in hand and 10 overs left purely so he can get a century, I'd bowl 5 wides down the leg side if I'm a Bangladesh bowler. No more nonsense from any cricketer big or small about "I play for the team," he wrote.

“This is supposed to be a World Cup match and instead it looks incredibly village. To make matters more comical, the commentators are indulging in the charade wholeheartedly,” he added in another post.

“And now the umpires are in on the charade too. A stone cold wide down the leg side is not given by the on field umpire, who then smirks,” a third one read.

“If there is a God, India will miss the semifinals on Net run rate by 12 balls," the user continued.

“If Kohli wants to turn down singles in pursuit of a century, so be it, but it raises integrity issues when an umpire refuses to call a blatantly obvious leg side wide in order to assist Kohli in his personal escapade,” he concluded.

Cricket fans on X were not pleased with the scribe’s assessment. They hit back at him and posted responses in support of Kohli.

Here are some of the reactions:

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Rahul clears air on Kohli “denying” singles

Speaking after the India-Bangladesh match, KL Rahul, who was at the other end when Kohli was approaching three figures, clarified that the batter was not keen on denying singles. He added that he insisted the set batter to go for it since the result of the match had become a foregone conclusion.

“He was confused, actually. He said, 'it would not look too nice to not take a single, it is still a World Cup match. It's a big stage, and I don't want to look like I want to get a milestone'. But I said, ‘it is not won but we will still win it quite easily, so if you can get to the milestone, why not. You must try’. And he did that in the end and I wasn't going to run singles!,” Rahul told Star Sports.

Having scored his 48th ODI ton in the game against Bangladesh, Kohli is now only one short of Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI centuries.