Follow UsIndia vs New Zealand in the 2023 World Cup semi-final at Wankhede, with Sachin Tendulkar sitting in the stands - Virat Kohli couldn’t have asked for a better stage to bring up his record-breaking 50th ODI century. The batting maestro crafted 117 off 113 and went past Tendulkar to become the batter with most tons in the 50-over format.
“I said in Kolkata, the great man (Tendulkar) just congratulated me. All this feels like a dream, too good to be true. Feels surreal for me. Again a big game today, I had to play the role I have played throughout the tournament so that the guys around me can go and express themselves. Just glad everything came together so nicely and we put up a great total on the board as well,” said Kohli, who brought up his 49th hundred against South Africa in Kolkata in the league stage.
“As I said stuff of dreams. Anushka was sitting right there, Sachin paaji was here too. Difficult to explain this. If I could paint a perfect picture, I would want this to be the picture. My life partner, the person I love the most is sitting there, my hero is sitting there and I was able to get the 50th (ODI hundred) in front of all of them and all these stands in Wankhede as well, such a history venue so it was amazing.”
Tendulkar also heaped heavy praise on Kohli. “A big, big congratulations to Virat, he made it look easy, he's gone to 50 hundreds in ODI format. Incredible, super, we are all super proud of him. I still remember the first day when he got into the Indian dressing room. Today to see the same player grow so beautifully and achieve so many laurels for our country, I am so proud.”
Kohli got his 50th in just 279 innings. The right-hander is closing in on 14000 runs and averages 58.70 in this format. Not just that, Kohli also broke Tendulkar’s record of most runs in a single edition of the World Cup. In 10 innings, the King has smashed 711 runs at an average of 101.57 and a strike rate of 90.68, studded with three centuries and five fifties.
“Most important thing is to make my team win and whatever it takes to do that I am ready to do that. Whether running singles and doubles, hitting boundaries... whatever the team wants me to do. I have been given a role this tournament and I have been trying to play that to the best of my abilities - try to dig deep and bat long so the guys around me can play around me and have that confidence in the later overs where I can dominate with the bat as well,” said Kohli.
Shreyas Iyer too, scored his second ton of the Cup and as a result, India put up a mammoth 397 for 4 in their 50 overs. “In a big game, you are happy with anything over 330-340. To get close to 400 is amazing. A lot of credit has to go to Shreyas for the way he came and batted freely. Shubman and Rohit at the top, KL finishing with the flurry... I think everyone did their roles to perfection and did the job beautifully for the team.”