Published January 20, 2023
By Pawan Atri · 4 min read
Team India talisman Virat Kohli’s Instagram story on Cristiano Ronaldo following the Portuguese superstar’s splendid performance in his debut game for Saudi club Al-Nassr went viral on Friday.
In his first game in Saudi Arabia, CR7 produced a stellar show, delivering two goals in Al-Nassr’s match against star-studded Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) had the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Neymar in their ranks.
However, it was Cristiano Ronaldo who stole the show in the first half with his twin strikes.
Though he didn’t succeed in securing victory for Al-Nassr as the former Saudi champions lost to PSG 5-4, his masterful display left Virat Kohli in awe.
Impressed by Cristiano Ronaldo’s performance, Virat Kohli took a dig at his critics, telling them that he was doing all this at the age of 38. For the uninitiated, Cristiano Ronaldo will turn 38 next month.
“Still doing it at the highest level at 38. The football experts sitting and criticising him every week for attention and to be in the news are conveniently quiet now that no he’s put in this kind of performance against one of the top clubs in the world. And he was apparently finished,” Virat Kohli wrote on Instagram.
The former India captain’s swipe at Cristiano Ronaldo’s critics came after the Funchal-born footballer’s detractors slammed him for his recent move to Saudi Arabia.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner was forced to join the Asian club after he departed from Manchester United in a shocking turn of events in November.
In a bombshell interview, Ronaldo accused the top management of the Red Devils of plotting his exit from the club. His accusations eventually resulted in the English Premier League side terminating his contract.
But this isn’t the first time Virat Kohli has praised Ronaldo in the last few months.
Kohli is a hardcore Cristiano Ronaldo fan and has often declared him the greatest footballer of all time ahead of his eternal rival Lionel Messi.
The Team India superstar said the same thing about the former Real Madrid attacker after Cristiano Ronaldo left the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in tears.
CR7’s dream of winning football’s greatest competition came to an end last month after Portugal suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at the hands of giant killers Morocco in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Days after an inconsolable Cristiano Ronaldo left the Middle East country, possibly ending his hopes of ever lifting the World Cup trophy, Virat Kohli took to Twitter to label the impact the Portugal captain has had on people around the world as a “gift from God”.
“No trophy or any title can take anything away from what you’ve done in this sport and for sports fans around the world. No title can explain the impact you’ve had on people and what I and so many around the world feel when we watch you play. That’s a gift from god,” Virat Kohli wrote on the microblogging website on Monday.
“A real blessing to a man who plays his heart out every single time and is the epitome of hard work and dedication and a true inspiration for any sportsperson. You are for me the greatest of all time,” he added.
Speaking about Virat Kohli’s cricketing career, he broke a slew of world records during his masterful unbeaten 166-run-knock off 110 deliveries against Sri Lanka last weekend.
Virat Kohli now has 20 Player of the Series awards to his name in international cricket, the same as Sachin Tendulkar. If we bifurcate their numbers further, Virat Kohli has claimed 3 Man of the Series trophies in Tests, 10 in ODIs, and 7 in T20Is. Talking about the Little Master’s figures, he grabbed 5 in red-ball cricket while the other 15 came in the 50-over format. He won none in T20Is.
With his 166 not out against the islanders, Virat Kohli now has the most unbeaten 150+ scores (5) in the history of ODIs.
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The ton was his 21st at home in the second-longest format of the sport, taking him clear of Sachin Tendulkar’s previous tally of 20.
During his sensational innings, Virat Kohli also overtook Sri Lanka legend Mahela Jayawardene to occupy the fifth spot among the highest run-getters in ODIs.
With 12,754 runs, Virat Kohli is now only behind Sachin Tendulkar (18,426), Kumar Sangakkara (14,234), Ricky Ponting (13,704), and Sanath Jayasuriya (13,430).
Virat Kohli also became the first non-opener to have 5 scores of more than 150+ in ODIs.
Moreover, Virat Kohli is the quickest to amass 46 centuries in ODI cricket – a milestone he achieved in just 259 innings. On the other hand, the previous record holder Sachin Tendulkar needed 431 innings to get there.
This was his 10th century against Sri Lanka, making him the first man to score that many tons against a single team in ODIs. Previously, Virat Kohli had made nine centuries each against Sri Lanka and West Indies, while Sachin Tendulkar had scored the same number of tons against Australia.
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Virat Kohli's Instagram story on Cristiano Ronaldo goes viral – ClutchPoints
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