Kohli hits 26th Test hundred as India reach 356 for 3 at lunch on day 2
Pune: Skipper Virat Kohli blended grace with sheer determination on way to his 26th Test hundred, leading India to 356 for 3 at lunch on day two of the second Test against South Africa here on Friday.
Kohli, during his unbeaten 104, was an epitome of concentration and with the dependable vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane (58 batting) for company, grinded the South African attack in the wicketless session that could well give India the decisive upperhand in the game.
A beautiful straight drive off Vernon Philander brought up Indian captain's 69th international hundred and the celebration was more about contentment than elation. Not for once did he look in any sort of hurry to complete the milestone as he respected the good deliveries.
The Kohli-Rahane duo added 158 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket stand and South Africa will certainly feel dejected as their bowlers put up a good show even though the scoreboard suggested otherwise. While Kohli's 183-ball innings had 16 fours, Rahane also had eight hits to the fence in 161 deliveries.Kagiso Rabada (3/65 in 24 overs) and Vernon Philander (0/54 in 24 overs), for the second day in a row, bowled a probing first spell without much luck.
Credit to the India skipper and his deputy for the manner in which they negotiated the first hour.
Kohli, in particular, was leaving anything that Rabada bowled on the off-stump channel for the first few overs. The only blemish was fishing at an away swinger from Philander, which a diving wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock failed to latch on to.
The bowler's back-drive off Rabada came soon after as Kohli started opening up. Anrich Nortje also again tried to bowl short but Kohli played his trademark short-arm pull in-front of the wicket.
Kohli entered into the 90's by deliberately opening the face of his bat and using the pace in Nortje' delivery to get a boundary in the third man region.
Nortje's extra pace was also well-utilised by Rahane also as he rode the bounce to play a couple of square cuts. Having survived a DRS appeal off Keshav Maharaj's innings, Rahane finally completed his 20th half-century with a single off Nortje's bowling.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Sharad Pawar praised RSS after seeing how it burst fake narrative balloon of LS polls: Fadnavis
Nagpur, Jan 10: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar praised the RSS after realising how the outfit managed to overcome the fake narrative spread by the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The opposition had claimed BJP wanted to win 400 seats to change the Constitution and end reservations, a narrative which BJP leaders later claimed hit the party hard.
On Pawar praising the RSS recently, the CM said the MVA was successful in creating a fake narrative during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"When assembly polls were approaching, many people from diverse fields who are inspired by the RSS played their role and burst the balloon of this fake narrative. Sharad Pawar saheb is very intelligent. He would have certainly studied this aspect. He realised that this (RSS) is not a regular political power but a nationalist power. In any competition it is good to praise others," he added.
That is why Pawar may have praised the RSS, Fadnavis said.
Speaking at an interaction with senior editor Vivek Ghalsasi at Late Vilasji Fadnis Jivhala programme here, Fadnavis also said he had asked for organisational work when Eknath Shinde was made chief minister in June 2022, but senior leaders asked him to join the government.
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him not to behave like an extra-constitutional authority in the government.
He said the decision to become deputy chief minister on the command of the party leadership earned him a lot of praise from the cadre.
After the massive mandate the ruling alliance received in the 2024 assembly polls, Fadnavis said people and party workers would not have been happy if the CM was not from the BJP.
Shinde himself agreed within minutes that the CM must be from the BJP, which itself got 132 seats and was close to a majority of its own in the 288-member assembly, he added.
On Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting him during the winter sessions of the legislature in Nagpur, Fadnavis said he had announced he would not indulge in politics of revenge after becoming CM and all leaders responded positively to it.
On chances of the NCP (SP) and NCP coming closer or reuniting, Fadnavis said, "If you see the developments that took place from 2019 to 2024, I realised never say never and anything can happen. Uddhav Thackeray goes to some other party and Ajit Pawar comes to us. In politics anything can happen though I am not saying this should happen."
He praised BJP leader Arun Gujarati from whom he learnt patience, which he claimed was an important quality in politics along with the ability to take criticism.
In a lighter vein, he said, "I only get angry when I am hungry. If you see me angry then give me something to eat and my anger will go away."
