He's always going to be number one: Virat Kohli on equaling Sachin Tendulkar's 49 ODI century record
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ollowing his match-winning century against South Africa in India's ICC World Cup match, which helped him equal Sachin Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI tons, star India batter Virat Kohli on Sunday admitted that for him 'Master Blaster' is always going to be a "Number one" cricketer.
Kohli said never in his wildest dream he thought about achieving the milestone.
With a stunning century against South Africa on his 35th birthday, Kohli equalled Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI hundreds.
The batter has amassed a total of 543 runs in the ongoing tournament at an average of 108.60. Kohli got to the milestone in 119 balls, including 10 fours at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. In December 2009, he scored his first ODI century against Sri Lanka at the same venue.
Kohli's century against South Africa was his second of the tournament and fourth in all 50-over World Cups, and it further adds to his being recockened as one of the best players of all time.
The former India captain said a record-equalling century was an emotional moment for him
"Quite an emotional thing for me. I grew up idolizing him, I started to aspire to play for India watching him play and just equal his record in ODIs is a surreal moment for me. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I'd get here, so I just feel blessed and grateful. And as I said in a post-match, for me, he is always going to be number one, regardless of whatever happens. But I'm just happy that my journey has come so far that I've been able to make it here and to be able to win games for my country as he did," Kohli said in a video posted by BCCI.
Tendulkar reacted to to Kohli's accomplishment by posting on X, "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."
On Sachin's message, the right-handed batter said, "I aspire to do the same thing because if I do that then, that means that we have a good chance of winning. So I would love to do it a few more times in this tournament, especially the big ones, the semis and the finals. so yeah, fingers crossed. Hopefully I can do that."
Kohli celebrating his 35th birthday with a century was perhaps a fitting birthday gift to his many fans. Kohli also noted that he does not get overly thrilled about his birthday, but it felt wonderful to return the favour to the fans.
"Well, I'm much happier to be in this position where I'm not receiving gifts, but rather I play well and I make everyone else happy because it gets a little too much to be able to make wishes and gifts on my birthday. I've never quite been the guy, who gets very excited for my birthday, so I'm just happy I was able to play this way. We won and everyone was happy. A return gift from me on my birthday," Kohli said.
✔️ He's always going to be number one: Virat Kohli on equaling Sachin Tendulkar's 49 ODI century record
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