NEW DELHI: Bangladesh stand-in captain Najmul Hossain Shanto might have brushed aside the notion that spinner Nasum Ahmed "intentionally" bowled a wide ball to deny Virat Kohli a century during the World Cup match in Pune on Thursday.
But former India batter Mohammad Kaif thinks otherwise saying Nasum purposely bowled wide to stop Kohli from scoring a century.
"It was extremely enjoyable to watch his batting. He took last-ball singles to retain the strike. That also shows his smartness. A wide was purposely bowled so that the century was not scored. It was the bowler's plan. How can a spinner bowl a wide?," Kaif told Star Sports after the match.
A huge controversy erupted when the on-field umpire Richard Kettleborough decided not to signal Nasum's down the led side delivery wide with Kohli batting on 97 and India needing another two runs to achieve the target of 257.
A couple of deliveries later, in the 42nd over, Kohli deposited the ball over deep midwicket to finish the game with a six, reaching 103 not out and completing India's comfortable win.
Kaif also expressed his surprise the way Kohli completed his century with only 169 were left for India to overhaul the target.
"I won't be able to forget this century throughout my life because 169 runs were required for a win when he walked out to bat. Too many runs weren't left, a century couldn't have been scored at all, but he came and scored 103 not out," said Kaif.
Kaif opined that Kohli refrained from playing the pull shot and instead focused on executing numerous drives. He further said that Kohli showed respect to the Bangladesh bowlers in his approach.
World Cup: Virat Kohli leads India stat attack against Bangladesh
"He didn't play the pull shot but played the drives. He gave a little respect. He didn't hit fours every time he played the drive, took singles as well. He scored singles to deep point and ran after hitting to mid-off and mid-on," said Kaif.
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