Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], November 29 : The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) posted a video showcasing the duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma going full throttle in a practice session ahead of the first India vs South Africa ODI of the two-match series, set to kick off on November 30 at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi.
In a video posted by BCCI on Instagram, both Kohli and Rohit can be seen batting in the nets, practising shots and then also participating in a catching practice drill. While Rohit can be seen chatting with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the video, Kohli can be seen bantering with Arshdeep Singh. KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Tilak Varma can also be seen in the video.
The pair last featured in an ODI in Australia in October, where Rohit smashed an unbeaten match-winning 121, while Kohli contributed a fluent, unbeaten 74. Together, they stitched a 168-run stand. Notably, both stalwarts now only play in ODIs, having stepped away from Tests and T20Is.
Both Kohli and Rohit are on the verge of breaking historic records ahead of the ODI series opener in Ranchi. Rohit, the current number-one-ranked ODI batter, is poised to become only the fourth Indian batter to reach 20,000 runs. He has 19,902 international runs to his name in 502 matches. The India opener scored 4,301 runs in 67 tests. He has 4,231 runs in T20Is and 11,370 runs in ODIs. He is only 98 runs away from joining an elite 20,000-run club that includes Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Rahul Dravid.
Kohli, on the other hand, needs just one hundred to break the record for most centuries by a batter in a single format. Kohli is currently tied with 51 centuries, level with Sachin Tendulkar, who finished his career with 51 tons in Tests. Only two players--Kohli and Tendulkar--have ever achieved the landmark of scoring 50 or more centuries in a single format.