Ravi Shastri pits Virat Kohli against Sachin Tendulkar with bold 'century of centuries' remark before WC final vs AUS
Ravi Shastri issued a bold statement about Virat Kohli after he shattered Sachin Tendulkar's record in the lead-up to the World Cup final vs Australia.
With batting icon Virat Kohli rewriting history for the umpteenth time at the grandest stage on Wednesday, ex-India head coach Ravi Shastri has backed the run machine to shatter another major milestone of his idol - Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar. A batting masterclass from Kohli sealed India's berth for the ICC World Cup 203 final at the Wankhede Stadium. A day after the first semi-final, Pat Cummins' Australia outclassed South Africa to set a date with hosts India in the World Cup final.
Shastri, who is an integral part of the esteemed commentary panel for the World Cup, has backed Kohli to shatter Tendulkar's century of centuries record in international cricket. After gifting himself a record-levelling century against South Africa on his 35th birthday, Kohli smashed his 50th One Day International (ODI) century to eclipse batting legend Tendulkar. No batter in the history of the game has scored more ODI centuries than Kohli.
After Kohli painted a perfect picture to surpass his idol at the Wankhede, former India head coach Shastri is convinced that the 35-year-old is primed to claim Sachin's record of 100 centuries in his trophy-laden career. The Little Master is the only batter to have 100 centuries under his belt in international cricket. “Who would have thought when Sachin Tendulkar got 100 hundreds that anyone would come close? And, he's got 80; 80 international hundreds, 50 of them in the one-day game, which makes him the highest. Unreal," Shastri said on The ICC Review.
'Another five hundreds in next 10 innings'
“Nothing's impossible because such players, when they start reeling off hundreds, then they score them pretty quickly. His next 10 innings, you might see another five hundreds. You have three formats of the game, and he's part of all those formats. To think that he still has three or four years of cricket ahead of him is simply mind-boggling,” Shastri noted.
Kohli topping batting charts at World Cup
Batting icon Kohli shattered Tendulkar's triple records in the first semi-final against New Zealand. Kohli's unforgettable 117 off 113 balls and a second-successive century from Shreyas Iyer powered India to 397-4 in 50 overs. Veteran pacer Shami picked up seven wickets as New Zealand were bowled out for 327 in 48.5 overs. Former India skipper Kohli is tipped to finish the tournament as the leading run-getter. He has smashed 711 runs in 11 matches of the ODI World Cup.
'He's just been wonderful'
“I think his composure, his body language, his calmness at the crease (in this WC). I have seen him come out in previous World Cups where he's like a cat on a hot tin roof. He wanted to get on with it straight away. None of that sort here. He's taken his time, marked his guard, soaked the pressure, given himself time, and understood his role of batting deep in the innings. He's just been wonderful,” Shastri added. Rohit Sharma's Team India will meet Australia in the World Cup 2023 final on Sunday.
