Sunil Gavaskar makes bold Virat Kohli claim for 100 centuries milestone after special series: ‘Can anyone tell me…’

Sunil Gavaskar gave his backing to Virat Kohli to reach the special milestone that only Sachin Tendulkar has achieved thus far.

If there is one word to describe the manner in which Virat Kohli batted in the three-match ODI series against South Africa, it is imperious. 302 runs in three innings at a terrific strike-rate and with two centuries to his name, Kohli evolved and took on a new form of the ODI great he already was, in his first international appearance on home soil in 10 months.

Virat Kohli acknowledges the crowd after reaching his fifty in Vizag. (AFP)

Now up to 84 international centuries and 53 in the ODI format, Kohli continues to prove he is a batter tailor-made for the 50-over format. Although he has stepped back from the other two variations of the game, he plans to keep playing ODI cricket for the foreseeable future – which means he might keep whittling away with more centuries and approach that triple-digit mark.

It’s a massive task and will need Kohli to be in similar form for the remainder of his career, but it is something he has the backing of Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar to achieve.

Speaking on JioHotstar, Gavaskar said he imagines with enough time Kohli could definitely match Sachin Tendulkar’s phenomenal record.

“Why not? Even if he plays for three more years, he needs 16 hundreds from here,” said Gavaskar on air. “The way he has been batting, he has scored two hundreds in a three-match series. Going forward, even if he scores two more against New Zealand in a three-match series, he will reach 87. So the chances of him getting to 100 are big, very good.”

‘Very rarely have we seen this version of Kohli…’

Kohli reminded fans of a version of himself from a decade ago, where he was capable of dominating opposition bowlers with power and boundary-hitting from the start of his innings, and then playing the innings at his own tempo. Tonning up in both Ranchi and Raipur, Kohli looked at his best in Vizag as he hits three sixes and six fours in his 65* to win the chase.

“The way he batted today (Saturday), knowing the match was almost in India’s pocket—he knew a good foundation had been laid by the openers and that batters in good form were to follow,” Gavaskar explained. “So he enjoyed himself in the middle. Very rarely have we seen this version of Virat Kohli—the T20 avatar—in ODI cricket.”

He played his shots from the second ball, and not one of them was reckless. Can anyone tell me whether there was an inside-edge or an outside-edge in his innings?” said Gavaskar, clearly making the claim that Kohli is in a special touch of form and has all the potential to turn that into even more records.

Kohli will be back in action when next month’s ODI series against New Zealand begins.