IND vs SA: 70000 fans at Eden Gardens go berserk as Virat Kohli comes out to bat on 35th birthday - Watch Video

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IND vs SA: 70,000 fans at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata gave Virat Kohli a rousing reception as he came out to bat on the occasion of his 35th birthday at the Eden Garden in Kolkata on Sunday.

The birthday boy came out to bat after the fall of India captain Rohit Sharma's wicket in the India vs South Africa match of the World Cup 2023. The India captain again gave his team a flying start by scoring 40 off just 24 balls.

Virat Kohli jogged his way into the middle even before Rohit Sharma had walked out. The fans went berserk and rolled out chants of 'Kohli, Kohli' to welcome the batting maestro in the middle on his special day. The crowd kept chanting Kohli's name until he took guard to face Kagiso Rabada on the final ball of the sixth over.

The superstar batter soon gave a usual treat to the fans with his trademark cover drive off Rabada in the 10th over. Kohli took the onus on himself to take forward India innings after the departure of Shubman Gill in the following over. At the time this story was published, he had forged a 100-plus run partnership with Shreyas Iyer for the third wicket and taken India past 200 in just 34 overs.

Kohli is chasing his record-equalling 49th ODI hundred at the Eden Gardens. He will come at par with Sachin Tendulkar in terms of most hundreds hit by a batter in the history of ODI cricket. The Delhi batter has become the first batter to score over 500 runs for India in the ongoing World Cup 2023.