The India vs Afghanistan World Cup 2023 clash had an important sub-plot going on in the build-up of the game. It was Virat Kohli vs Naveen Ul Haq. The two has a sort of history. In an IPL 2023 match, Virat Kohli, playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Naveen-ul-Haq, playing for Lucknow Super Giants, had a heated argument in Lucknow. The spat was one of the most talked about incidents at the IPL 2023.
Wednesday's match was the first time that the two came face to face again on a cricket field. Naveen was jeered by the crowd with 'Kohli Kohli' chants and a contest between the two was expected. Naveen Ul Haq bowled brilliantly to Kohli. But as far as any ugly spat is concerned, it was no where to be seen. In fact, the lasting image of the match would be when Virat Kohli and Naveen Ul Haq hugged each other. The images of the incident went viral immediately.
Meanwhile, captain Rohit Sharma on Wednesday became the first Indian to score seven world cup hundreds, surpassing the legendary Sachin Tendulkar during their clash against Afghanistan here.
While Tendulkar recorded six centuries in as many editions of World Cups that he played -- 1992, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011, Rohit achieved the feat in only three: 2015, 2019 and 2023.
Rohit also holds the record of scoring most centuries (five) by any batter in a World Cup edition -- a feat that he achieved in 2019 in England.
Rohit's ton against Afghanistan was his 31st overall, taking him past Australian legend Ricky Ponting. He is now behind India's Virat Kohli (47) and Tendulkar (49) in the history of ODI cricket.
Rohit also broke Kapil Dev's (72) record of fastest ODI century for India in World Cup history, moving into triple figures off just 63 balls (12x4s, 4x6s).
In imperious form during India's chase of 273 against Afghanistan, Rohit also went past West Indies' Chris Gayle (553 sixes across formats) to record most sixes hit in international cricket across formats.
Rohit completed his half-century off just 30 balls — second fastest in the edition so far — while hitting three sixes and seven fours to make 60 unbeaten off 32 balls at the end of the eighth over.
Rohit unleashed his signature pull shot to hit Afghanistan bowler Naveen-Ul-Haq on the penultimate ball of the eighth over to overtake Gayle. Pakistan's Shahid Afridi is third in the list with overall 476 sixes.
In the process, the Indian skipper also joined Australia's David Warner in taking least number of innings (19) to complete 1,000 runs in World Cup history.
Among other Indians, Tendulkar (20) and Sourav Ganguly (21) feature among those with quickest to 1,000 runs in World Cups.
With PTI inputs