Virat Kohli: Kohli was unbeaten on 49, yet did not take strike from Dinesh Karthik, won hearts

Virat Kohli's heart-warming gesture for the team has won hearts as he sacrificed his half-century during the Guwahati T20I between India and South Africa.

authorFARHEEN Delhi, 03 October 2022 ( Updated 03, October, 2022 11:53 AM IST )

Virat Kohli: Kohli was unbeaten on 49, yet did not take strike from Dinesh Karthik, won hearts
Kohli and Dinesh

Virat Kohli's heart-warming gesture for the team has won hearts as he sacrificed his half-century during the Guwahati T20I between India and South Africa. Kohli was batting on 49 but was spotted telling Dinesh Karthik to keep strike for the entire over and try hitting as many boundaries as possible.

Kohli might be someone who holds several records in the sport but above that he is a team man. An example of this was during the Guwahati T20I between India and South Africa on Sunday at the Barsapara Stadium.


India defeated South Africa in T20I to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. The Indian batters were in their element at Guwahati and smashed the South African bowling unit all over the park. Be it skipper Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav or Virat Kohli, the entire top-order functioned like a well-oiled machine to take the hosts to 237/3 in 20 overs.

Kohli, unfortunately, missed out on his half-century and remained unbeaten on 49. In the final over, Dinesh Karthik who was on strike, did approach Virat to change strike and give him a chance to complete his fifty. But Kohli declined and asked Karthik to finish the innings. The video of the star batter’s selfless gesture has won hearts.

In the final over, Dinesh Karthik smashed a four off Kagiso Rabada in the second ball. He then gave a miss to two slower deliveries before smashing two consecutive sixes, and once again proving himself as a finisher. He then ended the over by taking a single on a bye. Kohli was unbeaten on 49 off 28, while Karthik finished at 17off 7. As for Kohli, the right-handed batter might not have managed to score a half-century, but he did break another record. The former captain became the first Indian to score over 11,000 runs in T20 cricket.

Kohli is now fourth on the list of highest run-scorers in T20 cricket with 11,030 runs in 354 games. Only Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Shoaib Malik are ahead of him. This victory has added another feather to the cap of Indian skipper Rohit Sharma. He became the first Indian captain to defeat the Protease in a T20I home series.