Former Indian fast bowler Ajit Agarkar has showered praise on Virat Kohli for his fine knock against Bangladesh in the third ODI at Chhatogram on Saturday. Kohli scored a fine knock of 113 runs off just 91 balls against the Tigers in the final game of the series.

However, Kohli had the rub of the green on his side as Bangladesh skipper Litton Das bungled a simple catch at mid-wicket when the right-hander had scored a solitary run. In fact, Das had taken a spectacular catch to dismiss Kohli in the first ODI at Dhaka while fielding at cover.

Kohli made Bangladesh pay as he went on to score his hundred and with it ended his three years wait for an ODI century. The talisman took a backseat when Ishan Kishan was going all guns blazing at the other end. The duo added a gargantuan stand of 290 runs to help their team post a massive score of 409 runs on the board.

In fact, Kohli was struggling with his timing in the nascent stages of his knock however he was able to find his mojo as the innings progressed.

Ajit Agarkar said on Sony Sports, “I think Ishan Kishan’s innings helped him a lot. He will definitely send something to Litton Das because very few times such catches are dropped in international cricket, but you also have to remember that he took a brilliant catch in the first game.”

“He could take his time today. An early wicket had fallen, so he had the time. The pitch kept on improving. The fluency came in later, there is no doubt that it was a struggle at the start but Ishan Kishan had removed the pressure from him.”

Agarkar added Kohli will be relieved to end his ODI century drought of more than three years. Kohli had last scored an ODI hundred back in August 2019. This was Kohli’s 44th ODI century and overall the 72nd International ton of his career, which helped him leapfrog Ricky Ponting’s tally.

“He will be relieved, not only because he scored runs but that he scored a century as quite a few times it has happened recently that he has gotten off to starts, and generally in his career he used to score big when he got off to starts, but it was not happening.”

“Only God (Sachin Tendulkar) is ahead. This is a milestone that cannot be achieved in one day. You can do what Ishan Kishan did in one day, or score a triple century, but to score 72 centuries is amazing. Consistency is his name.”

Kohli will be now seen in action in the Test series against Bangladesh.