Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan praised Virat Kohli's match-winning century even before addressing his team’s defeat in the ongoing Champions Trophy. He was not only fascinated with Kohli's masterclass ton; but also the fitness level King Kohli has managed to maintain at the age of 36.
At the post-match press conference, Rizwan was bombarded with questions by the media over their loss against India. But instead of answering their questions, he decided to take a moment to praise Virat Kohli.
Rizwan said, “First, let's talk about Virat Kohli. I am surprised at his hard work. He must have worked so hard. The world says he is out of form, but he comes to such a big match, which the world is waiting for, and he easily hits the ball - and this is where we don't want to give him runs. But he plays and gets away from us, and he gets the runs off the ball, wins the match and becomes Man of the Match.”
“I will definitely praise his fitness level and hard work, the way he has done it. Because he is a cricketer and we are also cricketers. We tried very hard to get him out, but he took the game away. He has done a lot of hard work. The whole world said he is out of form, but he did it in this big match,” the Pakistan skipper added.
Virat Kohli's unbeaten century steered India to a crucial victory over arch-rival Pakistan and secured qualification in the Champions Trophy.
Kohli's 51st ODI hundred, which took him on par with his legendary compatriot Sachin Tendulkar, came when India needed two runs with Kohli on 96.
Kohli reached the landmark in style with a four over extracover to reach his century and sealed India's second win which took them closer to the last four stage.
During the course of the century, Kohli became the fastest players to score 14,000 ODI runs and also achieved another record of taking the highest number of catches--158.