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South African legend AB de Villiers' tweet for his former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) teammate and India superstar Virat Kohli following the latter's 46th ODI and 74th international hundred in the third ODI against Sri Lanka in Thiruvananthapuram went viral on social media.
“Virat Kohli! Different level,” AB de Villiers tweeted Monday morning.
Virat Kohli! Different level💪
— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) January 16, 2023
AB de Villiers' praise for Virat Kohli came after the talismanic India batter broke a slew of world records during his masterful unbeaten 166-run-knock off 110 deliveries against the Dasun Shanaka-led side at the Greenfield Stadium.
The ton was his 21st at home in the second-longest format of the sport, taking him clear of Sachin Tendulkar's previous tally of 20.
During the course of his sensational innings, Virat Kohli also overtook Sri Lanka legend Mahela Jayawardene to occupy the fifth spot among the highest run-getters in ODIs.
With 12,754 runs, Virat Kohli is now only behind Sachin Tendulkar (18,426), Kumar Sangakkara (14,234), Ricky Ponting (13,704), and Sanath Jayasuriya (13,430).
Virat Kohli also became the first non-opener to have 5 scores of more than 150+ in ODIs.
Moreover, Virat Kohli is the quickest to amass 46 centuries in ODI cricket – a milestone he achieved in just 259 innings. On the other hand, the previous record holder Sachin Tendulkar needed 431 innings to get there.
This was his 10th century against Sri Lanka, making him the first man to score that many tons against a single team in ODIs. Previously, Virat Kohli had made nine centuries each against Sri Lanka and West Indies, while Sachin Tendulkar had scored the same number of tons against Australia.
During his blistering knock in the capital of Kerala, Virat Kohli showed a different dimension of his batting prowess as he smashed eight sixes, including one that went as far as 97 meters. It is the most number of sixes the former India captain has slammed in during an ODI knock. Apart from eight hits over the fence, the Delhi-born cricketer's knock was laced with 13 boundaries.
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A sublime Virat Kohli completed his hundred in 85 deliveries but immediately shifted gears after accomplishing the landmark. The 166 not out is his highest score at home and the second-highest in One-Day Internationals.
Virat Kohli has been in sensational nick of late. This was his third hundred in his last four games, including his 44th ODI hundred in December against Bangladesh, ending a nearly three-year drought in the format.
The India batter admitted that he had not batted in this kind of rhythm for a while, after experiencing a prolonged slump in form between the start of 2020 to August 2022. He emphasized that he was pleased to be doing it all in a year when the 50-World Cup is scheduled to be held in India in October-December.
“It has been a great start, been a while since I started the year like this with a hundred and then getting two hundreds in a series and also becoming man of the series,” Virat Kohli told his teammate Shubman Gill, who also hit a century in the final ODI, in a video shared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
“I'm just happy that in the World Cup year I'm able to start like this and I know I can be consistent, so when I start like this and start feeling confident, then things usually go well. So, I'm just happy from the team's point of view that I was able to start like this and the team can really gel well as a batting unit,” Virat Kohli added.
Meanwhile, the legendary Sunil Gavaskar backed Virat Kohli to equal/break Sachin Tendulkar's world record of 49 ODI hundreds before the Indian Premier League starts this year.
Kohli, who needs three to equal and four to overtake Sachin Tendulkar's record, will have six ODIs to accomplish the landmark with the Men in Blue set to play a three-match series against New Zealand and Australia each.
The series between India and New Zealand starts on January 18 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
“The form that he is in, the way that he is playing right now…now we have three matches against New Zealand and three more against Australia. So we have six ODIs before IPL. And all he needs his three centuries. The way he is batting right now, why shouldn't we feel that those three hundreds happen before the IPL,” Sunil Gavaskar concluded.
India squad for New Zealand One-Day Internationals: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Umran Malik.
