Before the World Cup Final, Sachin Tendulkar surprises Virat Kohli with a special gift. See Photo

Virat Kohli wearing the jersey of Sachin Tendulkar

Cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar’s number ’10’ jersey was given to former ‘Men in Blue’ captain Virat Kohli prior to the opening of the 2023 ODI World Cup between Australia and India at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. The “Master Blaster” sent the blue jersey he wore against Pakistan in his final ODI match in 2012. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) posted images of Kohli receiving the storied shirt on their official X (previously Twitter) account.

It is a unique event and a unique pre-game moment. Virat Kohli in 2023 and Sachin Tendulkar in 2011,” the BCCI tweeted on X.

Kohli overtook Sachin Tendulkar earlier on Wednesday to become the first player to 50 hundreds in ODI cricket history. After a short while, Virat made a gesture that stole the show when he bowed to Sachin, who was cheering from the stands as the star batter broke his record.

Against New Zealand in the first semi-final, Virat struck 117 from 113 balls. There were two sixes and nine fours throughout his knock. Virat struck out more than 103 times to score his runs. Tim Southee eventually fired him.

The 35-year-old has amassed 691 runs at an average of 115.16 and a strike rate of above 89 in India’s ten tournament matches. His highest rating is 117. Virat is the tournament’s top run scorer with three hundreds and five fifties in ten innings. The former captain of India has surpassed Sachin’s record of 673 runs from the 2003 edition of the Cricket World Cup to register the most runs in a World Cup.

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Australia (Playing XI): Josh Inglis (Wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (C), Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Travis Head, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Joel Hazlewood.

India (Playing XI): Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (Wk).

Naiteek Bhatt