Virat Kohli continued his red-hot form in the ongoing Cricket World Cup 2023 on Thursday. He scored 88 runs off 94 balls against Sri Lanka at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Thursday. Though Kohli missed his record-equalling 49th ODI century, during his knock, the right-handed batter surpassed legendary Sri Lanka batter Kumar Sangakkara for a massive milestone and got closer to another batting great Sachin Tendulkar's record of scoring the most fifty-plus scores in ODI World Cup. It was the 13th fifty-plus score for Kohli at the mega event.
Tendulkar, with a tally of 21, holds the record for hitting most fifty-plus scores in ODI World Cups. Sangakkara, Shakib Al Hasan and Rohit Sharma, with 12 fifty-plus scores each at the mega event follow Kohli.
Talking about the game, Sri Lanka skipper Kusal Mendis won the toss and opted to bowl first.
"We are going to bowl first. I think the pitch will be better for batting in the second part. Everyone did their best in the last few games. Hopefully, they will continue to do the same today. One change, DDS (Dhananjaya De Silva) is not playing, Dushan Hemantha is playing," said the Sri Lanka skipper after winning the toss.
Meanwhile, India skipper Rohit Sharma said, "Would have batted first. Obviously, some assistance to start with but under lights there will be good assistance for our pacers. Great honour, a great moment to lead the team. It is important for us to not get carried away by the performances we put in. Same team as the last game."
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj
Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis(w/c), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Angelo Mathews, Dushan Hemantha, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka.