Discarded Indian batter Hanuma Vihari has stated that the Indian talismanic batter Virat Kohli is the only player who can break the legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 100 international centuries.
While Kohli scored an unbeaten 139 off 88 balls in the first ODI against the West Indies, propelling India to an eight-wicket win in Trivandrum, he scored 29 runs off 19 balls in the second ODI in Guwahati.
“Can he reach 100 hundreds? That is the biggest question. I think he will get around 25-30 matches till the World Cup. It is not an easy task. But anything is possible with Virat Kohli in this format. You can’t say it is difficult if he scores one in every two innings. If he reaches 95-96 centuries, will he continue after the World Cup to reach the milestone? I doubt it. He could have easily played till 10000 runs in Test cricket also, but he did not do that. I hope he gets the record. I know I am asking for too much. He’s the only man who can break it, if at all,” Vihari said on his YouTube channel.
Interestingly, Kohli’s innings in the first ODI included 10 fours and nine sixes. Further, Vihari showered praise on Kohli’s mindset and approach of hitting sixes at will, displaying a new dimension of his game.
“In the post-match, he said he is trying to redefine his batting. At this point of time in his career, he has taken up a new challenge. He showed it in the IPL. He is showing it here again in international cricket. In the last one year, his batting has changed. You would see him hitting so many sixes in an ODI innings on very few occasions. He was hitting sixes effortlessly in this innings. He got to 50 with a six. Hundred with a six. It shows his template and mindset. He is not here for the milestones. He is showing this is the way he is going to play. With freedom, with happiness, for the love of the game. I don’t know how many more years he will play international cricket. I hope he plays,” he added.
