"You've to sacrifice a bit," Cheteshwar Pujara takes a swipe at Virat Kohli for his century against Bangladesh

Virat Kohli hit his 48th ODI century in India's last ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match against Bangladesh.

Virat Kohli’s century against Bangladesh in Pune raised a major debate among cricket fans. A lot of questions were raised about Virat Kohli’s approach in the final moments of the game. Virat Kohli and KL Rahul delayed the team's win by a few overs as India’s superstar Virat Kohli was closing on his 48th ODI century. Virat and Rahul denied few singles and doubles when India required under 10. Bangladesh gave India a target of 257 in Pune.

Virat Kohli finished the game with a magnificent six and completed his century against Bangladesh in 97 balls. Discarded Indian middle-order batter Cheteshwar Pujara has slammed Virat Kohli’s approach in the final moments of the game. Pujara slammed Virat’s approach to prioritising his personal milestone and said that you may want your milestone, but not at the cost of the team’s victory. Virat Kohli scored the final 29 runs for team India in the chase.

Cheteshwar Pujara slams Virat Kohli

Cheteshwar Pujara said, “As much as I wanted Virat Kohli to score that hundred, you have to keep in mind that you want to finish the game as early as possible. You want your net run rate to be at the top. If you are in a position where you are fighting for the net run rate, then you don’t want to look back and say you could have done that.” Pujara was not happy with Virat Kohli’s approach of refusing singles and doubles.

Cheteshwar Pujara also added that you also have to sacrifice a bit for the team. Pujara said, “That is where I feel that, as a collective decision, maybe you have to sacrifice a bit. You want to look at the team; you want to put the team first. That's how I look at it. You want your milestone, but not at the cost of the team. As a player, you always have a choice. But some players feel that if they get a hundred, it helps them in the next game. So it depends on what kind of mindset you have."

Virat Kohli is just one century away from equaling Sachin Tendulkar’s world record of the most number of centuries in the ODI format. Sachin Tendulkar has 49 ODI centuries, while Virat Kohli has now scored his 48th ODI ton. Team India will be playing their next game against New Zealand at HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala. This will be a big game for both table-toppers. India and New Zealand have 8 points in their 4 league games so far.