IND vs BAN: Virat Kohli did not want to score a century, KL Rahul told the truth after the match

The 17th match of World Cup 2023 was played between hosts India and Bangladesh. In this match played at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, India defeated Bangladesh by 7 wickets in 51 balls with the help of former captain Virat Kohli's century. Kohli completed his 48th ODI century by hitting the winning six.

Wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul, standing at the other end, helped Kohli a lot in completing his century. Rahul rejected many easy singles in the last over and allowed them to remain on strike. Now he is just 10 centuries away from scoring the most centuries in the history of ODI cricket. He is just one century behind the record of great batsman Sachin Tendulkar. This is Kohli's third century in the World Cup.

This century is also special because when India needed 19 runs to win against Bangladesh, Kohli was also 19 runs away from the century. But, at the other end, Rahul supported him fully and played an important role in Virat completing his century.

After the match, which India won by seven wickets with 51 balls remaining, Rahul revealed that it was his idea to avoid taking singles so that Kohli could maintain the strike and thus increase his chances of reaching a century. "He was confused, he said it won't look good if we don't take singles. I don't want to look like I'm just trying to get my record," Rahul told Star Sports as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

Rahul said, "But after this, I told him that we are winning the match easily, and you can complete your century. Then Virat Kohli agreed. After this, Virat Kohli completed his century by hitting a six. Also, the Indian Gave the team its fourth consecutive win."

In the process of reaching his century, the Indian star became the fastest batsman to score 26,000 runs in the history of the men's game in international cricket. Kohli's unbeaten 103 against Bangladesh on Thursday means only India captain Rohit Sharma has scored more runs so far in the World Cup 2023, with the pair occupying the top two in the most runs table. India's win on Thursday has brought them level with New Zealand on points. Both teams are unbeaten after playing four matches in the tournament. However, New Zealand currently tops the table due to their better net run rate.