The Super Four match between India and Pakistan in Colombo was one of the most clinical performances one team can register in an ODI game. First with the bat and then with the ball, the Indian team was all over Pakistan and went on to register the second-biggest win against Pakistan by any team in ODIs.
And it was the former Indian captain Virat Kohli who won the Man of the Match award for his glorious century. Virat scored his 47th ODI ton off just 82 balls and took India over the 350-run mark. He remained unbeaten on 122 off 94 balls, including nine fours and three sixes.
Virat added an unbeaten 233-run stand for the third wicket with KL Rahul, who also brought up his sixth ODI ton. Rahul scored 111 not out from 106 balls, with two sixes and 12 fours. With this, Virat has now scored his 77th international century of his career and taken another step towards Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 100 international tons.
Though it looked impossible to score another 23 centuries because Virat is almost 35 now and there is very little chance that he will be playing for another 4–5 years. But can he break Sachin’s record? This is the question every Indian fan thinks of whenever Virat scores a hundred.
However, veteran keeper Dinesh Karthik reckons that it will be pretty hard for Virat to reach 100 centuries. In a discussion on Cricbuzz, Karthik pointed out that Sachin started at 16, while Virat made his debut at 20. Those four years of gaps will be hard to cover up.
Karthik said, “Those 4 or 5 years could be the difference. It is different from 16 to 21 than trying to catch up from 34 to 40. Whether he goes on to touch Sachin’s record, falls short, or gets ahead of him, you have to say what Virat Kohli has achieved is phenomenal.”
Furthermore, DK lauded the former Indian captain and said that no one comes close to Virat Kohli when it comes to 50-over cricket. With his century, Virat also became the fastest batter to 13,000 ODI runs. Virat did it in just 267 innings, while Sachin took 321 innings to do so.
