Virat Kohli still needs to score 20 more hundreds to surpass Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI centuries

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

India captain Virat Kohli scored his 30th ODI hundred in the fifth ODI against Sri Lanka on Sunday, but admitted that it will be extremely tough for him to catch up with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.

Kohli’s hundred in Colombo saw him draw level with former Australia captain Ricky Ponting on the all-time list of most centuries scored in ODI cricket.

While Kohli still has many years left in his career, the 28-year-old conceded that surpassing Tendulkar’s tally of 49 ODI hundreds will be no easy feat.

“It’s an honour for me to equal someone like Ricky Ponting. That’s not something that you aim for but obviously he’s a great player and as batsmen we all respect what these legends have done,” Kohli said. “The great man (Sachin Tendulkar) is quite a bit away. That’s going to take a hell of an effort. Again, I am not thinking about that. For me, it’s only about the team where even if I score a 90 not out and the team goes across the line, it’s good enough for me.”

Even though Kohli was thrilled to have equalled the number of ODI centuries Ponting scored in his illustrious career, he pointed out that representing his country and ensuring they win is more important than his personal achievements and etching his name in the record books.

“I look to perform as well as I can for the team,” he said. “These things keep happening as you go along in your career. You don’t target these things, but those stat windows are hard to neglect because they pop up everywhere after you have achieved something.”

With India winning the fifth ODI by six wickets, they whitewashed Sri Lanka 5-0 in the series and will now conclude their tour by playing a one-off Twenty20 International in Colombo on Wednesday.