Former South African skipper AB de Villiers heaped praise on his former teammate and Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli for equaling the record of legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s ODI hundreds. The Ace Indian batter struck an undefeated 101 from 121 balls against South Africa to achieve this massive feat in the game.
The right-handed batter scored his 48th century against Bangladesh and narrowly missed tying Tendulkar’s record for the most ODI tons versus Sri Lanka and New Zealand but played brilliantly well to achieve this record in a full-packed Eden Gardens crowd.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, AB de Villiers claims that even by today’s standards, Virat Kohli’s rise to 49 ODI hundreds has come about quite swiftly. The South African legend went on to say that Tendulkar and Kohli could not be compared because they achieved the milestone at different times and expressed his happiness for his former teammate, with whom he has spent a lot of time during his playing days in the IPL.
“It has taken Virat 277 innings to get to 49 hundred. That is very quick even though it’s a new generation kind of thing that is lightning fast,” AB de Villiers said.
“The two of us are really close. We are basically brothers and I am very happy for Virat. It’s a new generation and you can’t really compare numbers, especially the time in which Sachin did it – 451 innings as against Virat’s 277. He’s done it in a faster time, but the game has changed dramatically since Sachin played. 250 in an ODI innings is almost laughable these days on a good wicket. You look at 400,” AB de Villiers added.
Legendary Sachin Tendulkar achieved his 49th century in the 462nd ODI of his career, whereas Virat Kohli has achieved his 49th century in just 289 ODIs In eight innings, Virat Kohli scored 543 runs at an average of 108.60 and a strike rate of 88.29 and played some pivotal knocks for the team in the ongoing ODI World Cup.
Virat Kohli Is Always Really Good Like That, Giving Respect To Other People – AB de Villiers
AB de Villiers stated that the Indian great batter’s constant display of respect for others is one of his best qualities. Following his 49th century in one-day internationals, Kohli complimented Tendulkar and hailed him to be a better batter than him.
“Virat also said that in his interview – Sachin will always be the greatest. Virat is always really good like that, giving respect to other people. Especially when he breaks records or when his stats are looking better, he is always the first to say, ‘no, no, by no means am I greater than this guy’. Maybe he is, maybe he is not. That’s not the point. The point is, he has scored 49 hundreds and that’s equal to Sachin’s record,” AB de Villiers added.
In eight innings, Virat Kohli scored 543 runs at an average of 108.60 and a strike rate of 88.29, the veteran Indian batter would be keen to continue his fine form going into the knockout stage of the marquee event on home soil.