Gavaskar expects Kohli to surpass Tendulkar in ODIs
Saturday, 2 November 2013 00:00
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At the rate Virat Kohli is scoring ODI centuries, he is likely to go past Sachin Tendulkar’s record 49 hundreds, believes Sunil Gavaskar.
Kohli has already scored 17 centuries in 118 matches, while Tendulkar had eight after the same number of matches.
“That is what human progress is all about. Records are meant to be broken,” Gavaskar told NDTV. “While we know that some of Tendulkar’s records are well nigh impossible to get like 200 test matches, nor can anybody reach 51 test hundreds.
“But the manner in which Virat is batting, the record for 49 hundreds looks possible,” he said. “Now Virat needs 32 more hundreds to go and the number of ODIs India play he can do it. This cricketing season itself, Virat can get to 20 or 22 hundreds.”
Eleven of Kohli’s centuries have come while chasing and he needs seven more to break another one of Tendulkar’s records - that of most hundreds while chasing.
Gavaskar was also impressed with Kohli’s ability to adjust his game according to the state of the match. “He reads the conditions and situations well, he knows the opposition well and that’s the reason why he is scoring so consistently,” he said.
“India is blessed to have somebody of the talent of Virat Kohli coming through. The fact that he has in his emerging years spent a lot of time with the likes of Sachin, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman and put that experience to good use on the field speaks very highly of this young man’s cricketing intelligence. That is the key.”
