Virat Kohli Is 'Greatest Ever ODI Player', Says Former England Captain

Updated: 16 February 2018 23:55 IST

Virat Kohli smashed an unbeaten 129 off just 96 balls to help India beat South Africa by eight wickets in the sixth and final ODI at Centurion.

Virat Kohli Is
Virat Kohli smashed his 35th ODI century as India routed South Africa in the sixth ODI. © BCCI

Virat Kohli seems to be a man on a mission -- a mission to decimate every bowling attack in the world. On Friday, the 29-year-old was again in a destructive mood and the South African bowlers had no answers as they were carted around by Kohli at will. The Indian captain went on to score his 35th ODI century and in the process broke quite a few batting records. Following Kohli's century, Twitter burst into life with former and current cricketers showering praise on India's run-machine. Among them was former England captain Michael Vaughan, who labelled Kohli as the "greatest ever ODI player".

Former India cricketers VVS Laxman and Mohammad Kaif also lavished praise on the Indian skipper.

Kohli smashed an unbeaten 129 off just 96 balls to help India beat South Africa by eight wickets in the sixth and final ODI at Centurion on Friday. India who had already won the ODI series, their first on South African soil, completed a 5-1 series win in the end.

Kohli ended up breaking several records as he dismantled the South African bowling attack in Centurion.

Kohli ended the series with 558 runs with three centuries and one fifty in six innings. This was the first time an Indian batsman has hit 3 centuries in a bilateral series.

Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman had scored three centuries but not in a bilateral series. Ganguly scored three centuries during the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, while Laxman slammed three tons during the 2004 VB Series in Australia.

Kohli's mammoth 558 runs in the series is also the most by any batsman in a bilateral ODI series.

The record was previously held by his team-mate Rohit Sharma, who scored 491 runs in the six-match series against Australia.

Topics : India South Africa Virat Kohli Michael Vaughan South Africa vs India 2018 Cricket
Highlights
  • Vaughan says Kohli is the greatest ODI player ever
  • Kohli smashed his 35th ODI century
  • India won the 6th ODI by 8 wickets
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