Virat Kohli believes that he could match Sachin Tendulkar’s batting accolades in ODI
Virat Kohli believes that he could match Sachin Tendulkar’s batting accolades in ODI. Virat Kohli is the closest thing to Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli has the second most international centuries after Tendulkar, with 70 hundreds across all forms. Only Kohli comes to mind when discussing similarities to the legendary Tendulkar. And why not? After all, he is India’s most prolific and competitive hitter after Sachin. Despite his dismal form, Kohli remains the only modern-day cricketer with a chance to surpass the great Tendulkar in terms of records. With 43 ODI hundreds, he is only six behind Tendulkar’s total.
The fact that Kohli is mentioned in the same sentence as Tendulkar tells much about the Indian superstar’s dedication and hard work. When Kohli made his debut for India as a 19-year-old in 2012, no one could have predicted his meteoric rise. By 2013, Kohli had established himself as the Indian batting superstar, and he would go on to dominate international cricket for the following seven years. Even when he was young, Kohli had the self-assurance and belief that he could match Tendulkar’s batting achievements. Yes, you read that correctly.
Ashwin Krishnan, Oakley’s head of Sports Marketing, remembers meeting a young Kohli many years ago and Virat admitting that he will eventually come up to Tendulkar’s records, at least in ODI cricket.
“It would be an understatement to say that Virat Kohli’s one-day record is remarkable.” And he’s getting closer to Sachin’s record – whether he gets there or not isn’t the objective. I’ll give you a quick story. We traveled to Los Angeles in 2013 to sign Virat for Oakley. And there we were, seated. Virat had arrived with his manager Bunty, and I had arrived from Mumbai. I was playing in the Champions League and had to drop out only to sign him. And as a 24-year-old with 9 ODI hundreds to his name, he sat down and said, ‘One-Day mein toh main paaji (Sachin) ko pakad loonga.’ Paaji possessed 49 hundreds “Krishnan revealed this to Jamie Alter on The Alternate View, a Glance discussion programme.
In response to Kohli’s spate of poor scores, Krishnan argued that the former India captain is not out of form, claiming that his brain is not in the proper place. Krishnan goes on to say that a player of Kohli’s quality can’t be out of form, and that once he gets it right, the runs will flow.