Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri backs Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli to break another massive record of legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar following his emphatic 50th ODI century against New Zealand in the marquee semifinal game on Wednesday.
After equaling batting great Tendulkar with a record-breaking century against South Africa on his 35th birthday, Virat Kohli smashed his 50th One Day International (ODI) century to achieve a massive milestone in the history of the game, with him being one batter to score 50 centuries in the 50-over format of the game.
Speaking on the commentary, Ravi Shastri believes that Virat Kohli will surpass Tendulkar’s record of 100 centuries in international cricket before the end of his cricketing career and is certain that the Indian batting maestro has plenty of cricket left in him and backs him to play at least three to four years of International cricket.
“Who would have thought when Sachin Tendulkar got 100 hundreds that anyone would come close? And, he’s got 80; 80 international hundreds, 50 of them in the one-day game, which makes him the highest. Unreal,” Ravi Shastri said.
“Nothing’s impossible because such players, when they start reeling off hundreds, then they score them pretty quickly. His next 10 innings, you might see another five hundreds. You have three formats of the game, and he’s part of all those formats. To think that he still has three or four years of cricket ahead of him is simply mind-boggling,” Ravi Shastri said.
Sachin Tendulkar has been one of the best cricketers that the world has ever witnessed and has the record for most hundreds in International cricket with 100 centuries to name. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli would set his eye on that record, as he has scored 80 International tons so far and would be keen to continue his fine form in the future.
Virat Kohli Understood His Role Of Batting Deep In The Innings – Ravi Shastri
Speaking of Virat Kohli’s Form, Ravi Shastri believes that he is more calm and composed in the ongoing ODI World Cup compared to the previous one and feels that he has taken his time in the game, embracing the pressure in the middle to bat deep, which reason behind his successful campaign in the marquee event.
“I think his composure, his body language, his calmness at the crease (in this WC). I have seen him come out in previous World Cups where he’s like a cat on a hot tin roof. He wanted to get on with it straight away. None of that sort here. He’s taken his time, marked his guard, soaked the pressure, given himself time, and understood his role of batting deep in the innings. He’s just been wonderful,” Ravi Shastri added.
Virat Kohli is currently the leading run-scorer in the single edition of the ODI World Cup as he overtook the renowned Sachin Tendulkar, who had scored 673 runs from 11 games in the 2003 World Cup and also holds the record for the most fifty-plus scores in a single edition.
