Indian star batter Virat Kohli on 5 November achieved a remarkable feat as he leveled his 49th ODI century with ‘God of Cricket’ Sachin Tendulkar while batting against South Africa in the ongoing ICC Men’s World Cup 2023 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Kohli’s 49th century came after a knock of 101 off 120 balls, helping India to score 326/5 in 50 overs.
Following his batting and the 49th century, many cricketers started comparing him with cricket legend Sachin and began calling him G.O.A.T. (greatest of all times).
However, former Australian skipper and cricket legend Ricky Pointing appreciated Kholi, but with a twist.
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Pointing, the Australian World Cup champions’ skipper, had always been a fan of Master Blaster’s batting, but on Sunday while commenting on Virat’s batting, he called the Indian batter as ‘absolute best’.
“There is no doubt he is the absolute best and I have said that for a long time. He didn’t need to equal Sachin’s record, he doesn’t need to break the record. If you look at his overall batting record it is incredible. To think that he got 49 ODI hundreds and equaled Sachin and in 175 less innings is unbelievable,” Hindustan Times quoted Ponting commenting on Kohli’s innings while speaking to ICC.
Currently, Kohli is the second in the list of the tournament’s highest scorers with 543 runs from 8 matches. He is 7 runs behind leader Quinton de Kock.
With India set to play its last league match against the Netherlands on 12 November, Pointing feels Kohli is not done just yet, as India already qualified for the first semi-finals to be played at Eden Gardens at Wankhede in Mumbai on 15 November.
“That might be a bit of a monkey off his back. I think he has been working extra hard to equal Sachin’s record. That’s done now and it has happened at a really good time at the tournament for him. One more game to go and then they head into the semi-finals. It was an almost perfect day for Virat and a great day for India,” Pointing added.
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Updated: 06 Nov 2023, 06:11 PM IST