Team India has been phenomenal till now in the ICC World Cup 2023 so far. They have won all of their 8 games and sitting comfortably at the top of the points table. Both batting and bowling have been clicking at the right time for Team India. One of the main reasons for Team India’s success so far is Virat Kohli’s consistency with the bat. Virat Kohli has been doing so well in the tournament and scoring runs consistently.
Also, Virat Kohli has equaled the record for most centuries in ODI cricket after he scored his 49th ODI hundred against South Africa at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. He equaled the record with the god of cricket ‘Sachin Tendulkar’, who also scored 49 ODI hundreds in his career.
Virat Kohli achieved this feat in fewer inning
Virat Kohli has been the heart and soul of Indian cricket for so many years now. He has won so many games for the team with his batting in all three formats. But today, we are only talking about his ODI format achievements. Virat Kohli has played a total of 289 ODI matches so far. And in 277 innings, he scored 13626 runs with an average of 58.48 and a strike rate of 93.55.
Till now, he has scored 70 half-centuries and 49 centuries in ODIs. He has now equaled the record of Sachin Tendulkar in ODIs. Also, Virat Kohli scored 49 centuries in much fewer innings than Sachin Tendulkar.
Sachin Tendulkar has played 463 ODI games in his career. And in 452 innings, he scored 18426 runs with an average of 44.83 and a strike rate of 86.24. In that period, he scored 96 half-centuries and 49 centuries. But Virat Kohli only took 277 innings to achieve the feat of 49 ODI centuries.
Who is great? Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli
Although there is no comparison between the two. Both are greats of their eras. We all know the quality of opposition and the dynamics in Sachin’s era. Also, what Virat has done is not an easy thing to do. If it is easy, so many players would have done that. So there is no comparison between the two greats of the game. But going by the stats, Virat Kohli has done that in a much lesser innings.
Sachin Tendulkar in full praise of Virat Kohli
When Virat Kohli scored his 49th ODI hundred, the fans and public figures from all around the world reacted in praise of him. Sachin Tendulkar, whom Virat Kohli idolized so much, has praised Virat Kohli for this achievement.
Sachin, on Twitter, has said it took him 365 days to go from 49 to 50. But he wants Virat to score his 50th ton in the next few days. “Well played Virat. It took me 365 days to go from 49 to 50 earlier this year. I hope you go from 49 to 50 and break my record in the next few days. Congratulations.”
Virat Kohli has already scored a century in this WC 2023, which came against Bangladesh. He also came close to scoring a century against New Zealand and Sri Lanka. But unfortunately missed out on the opportunity. He also scored an outstanding 85 against Australia in the first game.
Anushka Sharma couldn’t control to express her feelings for husband
Virat’s wife, Anushka Sharma also expressed her feeling when he scored a century on his 35th birthday. Anushka Sharma put a picture of his husband on her Instagram story and captioned it – “Apne birthday par khud ko present” (means “A present to yourself on your birthday).
“I love you through this life and beyond and endlessly so, in every shape, form, through it all, whatever it may be so.” – She wrote for his husband.
Virat Kohli’s international centuries
Overall, Virat Kohli has 79 international centuries in international cricket. Only Sachin Tendulkar has more centuries than him. Virat has 49 centuries in ODIs, 29 in Tests, and one in T20Is. Sachin has 100 international centuries (51 in tests and 49 in ODIs) in his career.
Will Virat score 100 international centuries?
Virat Kohli has so much cricket left in him. At one stage, there was a period when he was struggling to score centuries and even runs. But the way he makes a comeback shows how mentally tough he is. He is still hungry to achieve more even after achieving so much and scoring a lot of runs.
Virat is physically super fit and sets the fitness standards higher for themselves. He can easily play for a few more years. The only thing is his eagerness to play. He is fit in terms of physical health. But a player of this caliber needs motivation, mentally to go on again and again. If he is eager to carry on, he can go as long as he wants.
Let’s see how he goes about his business. Right now, his only focus will be to do well for the team and win the WC 2023. Virat Kohli is at No. 2 in the leading run-scorer with 543 runs. He is just 7 runs behind Quinton de Kock, who is at No. 1.
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