'That's why he took 241 balls for a 100' - Fans react to Virat Kohli's 'I don't play for milestones' remark after BGT series

Virat Kohli (Source - Twitter)

The final Test of the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy ended in a draw in Ahmedabad on Monday, with India clinching the series 2-1 to secure a fourth straight BGT victory over Australia. The final Test saw a few incredible individual performances from Virat Kohli, Usman Khawaja, Shubman Gill, Cameron Green and Ravichandran Ashwin. But it lacked the excitement that fans experienced in the first three Tests as the Narendra Modi Stadium yielded no results.

Australia scored 480 in their first innings on the back of centuries from Khawaja (180 off 422) and Green, but India responded with a massive 580 after Kohli ( 186 off 364) and Gill (128 off 235) scored impressive centuries. The former India captain won the Player Of The Match award after 41 months in Tests for his terrific knock. It was his 10th award in Test cricket, making him the only player to receive at least 10 Player of the Match awards across all three formats.

The ace batter has been going through his worst patch in the past few years but has found his rhythm in the shorter formats with centuries and a match-winning knock against arch-rivals Pakistan in the 20-20 World Cup 2022. However, Kohli has not been able to play a remarkable innings in the Test format, failing even in the first three Tests of the recently concluded series. Kohli, who has carried the Indian batting unit for years, faced criticism from former players and fans for his poor run in red-ball cricket, but finally shut the critics down by smashing his 75th international century.

I have never played for milestones: Kohli

After adding another feather to his cap by winning the Player Of The Match award, the 34-year-old said he is proud of performing for his team in difficult situations rather than achieving milestones.

"I have never played for milestones and centuries. I am proud when my team needs to perform in difficult situations. I am not here to prove anyone wrong here, I want to justify myself & score important runs for India," Kohli said in the post-match presentation.

There is no doubt that Kohli leads the batting unit whichever team he plays for. Even if he achieves personal milestones, he will put the team's success first, as we have seen many times over the years. However, his recent statement received mixed reactions from fans, with some acknowledging and appreciating the run machine, while others pointed to his slow innings to reach his 28th Test century. It was his second slowest Test 100 in terms of balls as he took 241 balls to end the 1205-day wait.

Here's how fans responded to Kohli's statement: 

No one doubt that . Why is he even saying this ?

— CriC Talk(COMMUNITY FOR CRICKET LOVERS) (@INDFAM_BBS) March 14, 2023

And that is true , whenever the team was in trouble, he was the saviour and has saved us multiple times when we were up against our arch rivals Pak

— ً (@SarcasticCowboy) March 14, 2023

He has done so many things for his team since last 10 years❤️

— Shaurya (@Kohli_Devotee) March 14, 2023

Then why he took time from 90 to 100

— ._.Papercut.-. (@VandhuGuniiiiii) March 14, 2023

😂 hitting 5 fours in century on a flat track and saying not playing for milestones

— SIR CHAHAL⁴⁵❁ (@Sirchahal) March 14, 2023

Bro got Umesh Yadav run out for Double hundred, but yes never played for milestone

— Amar (@iamar1012) March 14, 2023

Everyone knows the truth that he play for his personal milestones not for the team

— Flick (@Ro_Flex__45) March 14, 2023

Even though I am not a Virat Kohli fan, I think Virat has played a selfless knock for the team and he is a better Captain than Rohit Sharma in test cricket.

— Amarnath (@Amarnat01528476) March 14, 2023

What if he Play for Hundreds and milestones 🥵🔥

— Devil Maxxi (@maxxi_devil) March 14, 2023