(Video) Virat Kohli’s Religious Visit Goes Ahead of India vs. New Zealand 3rd ODI

Apart from his latest trip, Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma previously sought blessings at Ujjain’s Mahakaleshwar Temple during a visit in 2023.

(Video) Virat Kohli’s Religious Visit Goes Ahead of India vs. New Zealand 3rd ODI

Virat Kohli and Kuldeep Yadav visited Ujjain's Mahakaleshwar Temple, ahead of India-NZ ODI. (via X)

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Having become more devout in recent years, Virat Kohli traveled to Ujjain to worship at the well-known Shree Mahakaleshwar Temple. Moreover, this visit comes only a few hours before the start of India’s third and final ODI match against New Zealand. 

The Men in Blue aim to cap off the ODI series against the Blackcaps with a win in the third match, to be played at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. The series is currently tied following New Zealand’s win in Rajkot, where they chased down 285. A standout display from Daryl Mitchell, who scored a brilliant 131 runs off 117 balls, was instrumental in guiding NZ to a seven-wicket victory.

Moreover, it was also one of the rarest occasions when Virat Kohli failed, despite him enjoying a purple patch in the 50-over format. He was dismissed after scoring just 23 runs off 29 balls by Kiwi pacer Kristian Clarke. However, Kohli had a fantastic outing in the first ODI in Vadodara, where he scored 93 runs off 91 balls, which earned him the POTM award and set the tempo for a successful run-chase.

Despite a difficult Australia tour where he was dismissed for two consecutive ducks, Kohli’s numbers since his return to India’s ODI setup have been stellar. He has scored over 490 runs in his last six outings, which include two centuries and three half-centuries. This strong run has placed him at the top of the ODI Batting Rankings, and the 37-year-old hopes to maintain this momentum after his spiritual visit to Ujjain’s Mahakaleshwar Temple.

Before the 3rd ODI, Kohli and Kuldeep Yadav journeyed to Ujjain, the location of one of the 12 ‘Jyotirlinga’ shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva, to seek blessings. The two players were photographed sitting inside the temple before they took part in the ‘Bhasma Aarti’. Earlier, as they were being escorted by the priests, Kohli addressed the media by chanting ‘Jai Shree Mahakal’ to show his reverence for Lord Shiva.

Moreover, their auspicious visit to the temple occurred just one day after Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir also traveled to Ujjain and participated in the ‘aarti’. Considering the spiritual journeys, the outcome of India’s deciding ODI against a strong New Zealand side remains to be seen.

ICC corrects major error: Virat Kohli confirmed to have spent 1,547 days as world no. 1 ODI batter

Indian cricketing icon Virat Kohli reclaimed the top position in the ICC ODI Batting Rankings, making it the 11th such instance in his career. The ex-India captain’s return was driven by a sequence of dominant displays, with his most recent scores being 23, 93, 65, 93, 102, and 135.

Virat Kohli rankings
The ICC corrected a major error that it made in displaying Virat Kohli’s ODI stat. (via India Today)

However, a social media graphic posted by the ICC triggered confusion among fans. The board shared a statistic on the cumulative number of days the Indian batter had spent as the top-ranked batter, shortly after announcing Kohli’s return to the no. 1 spot in the ODI Batting Rankings following a nearly five-year hiatus. The graphic ranked Kohli tenth on this list, stating his total time at the top was 825 days.

Soon enough, fans and cricket analysts were quick to point out the glaring error in the ICC’s figures. They highlighted that the number contradicted the ICC’s own records, revealing that Kohli had actually spent over 1,540 days as the no. 1 ODI batter across multiple stints. The ICC immediately removed the post, admitting the error, and later issued an updated statement with the corrected statistics.

Kohli is now third on the all-time list of batters who have held the number one position in the 50-over format for the most days, trailing Vivian Richards (2,306 days) and Brian Lara (2,079 days). However, he could lose his top ranking, with Daryl Mitchell trailing him by one rating point.

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