By Vivek Prabhakar Singh
Dubai [UAE], March 1 : Ahead of India's ICC Champions Trophy clash against New Zealand, former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa hailed star batter Virat Kohli, who is playing his 300th ODI, calling the batter's triple century in the 50-over a "no mean feat".
India will be playing its final league stage match of CT 2025 against New Zealand, having already made it to the semifinals. While the match will only decide India's opponent for the semifinal and has no consequences on their qualification, it being Virat's 300th appearance makes it a special match. The batter will become only seventh Indian to play 300 ODIs and it is a format he has dominated consistently since his international debut in 2008.
Speaking to ANI, Uthappa said, "You reach a phase of your career when you are so consistent that you break records every game. I think that is where Virat is now. He truly deserves it for what he has done for the country in the sport, especially batting. He is exceptional. It is no mean feat as those who have made their debut in last five years would not achieve this feat."
On the 36-year-old batter's inconsistent run of form last year, Uthappa said that the batter never lost his form, but rather, he failed to perform as per the "high standards" he set for himself.
"In our country, where you do not perform for some time and they are always calling for your head. But I have always believed that a player of his calibre and players who are special deserve to have a long rope. And he has done everything to auger that long rope for himself over the last year or so. And it is not like he has been out of form," said Uthappa.
"It is just that he has not performed to the high standards that he set for himself. So in that sense, I think he still continues to do fairly well. But he has just got us so used to such a high calibre of performances that anything less than that, then we start complaining. But we hope that he can continue to bat the way he is batting and bring us more laurels," added Uthappa.
Uthappa does not think that the India-New Zealand clash will be a dead rubber since the Champions Trophy is a small tournament that requires a team to continue their momentum and India would be looking to do that.
"India will have serious business tomorrow. They are playing two games on the bounce (semifinals on March 4 after the NZ clash). I think we have got the team, we have got the form, the bowlers are bowling well, the batters are batting exceptionally well. We have got the advantage of familiar conditions over other teams. So, obviously, it is everything India stands to gain while going to the back end of the tournament," he concluded.
Squads:
India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh
New Zealand Squad: Will Young, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Tom Latham(w), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner(c), Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, William O'Rourke, Daryl Mitchell, Nathan Smith, Mark Chapman, Jacob Duffy.