Virat Kohli struck his 30th ODI century against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Sunday. (Source: Reuters)
Virat Kohli brought up his 30th ODI century on Sunday and led India to a convincing six wicket win and a 5-0 series win against Sri Lanka in Colombo. This was his second century of the series. The 30th ODI ton equalled Kohli with Australian batting legend Ricky Ponting with just Sachin Tendulkar in front (49 centuries).
Kohli acknowledged it would take “hell of an effort” to match Sachin or eventually surpass him. “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. 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,” Kohli said at the post-match press conference.
“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.”
However, the Indian skipper, who now leads the charts with most runs in the calendar year, stressed on team wins over personal accolades.
“I look to perform as well as I can for the team. 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,” said Kohli.
Kohli scored his century in Colombo from 107 balls and the score took his tally in the year beyond the 1000-run mark.
