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Indian superstar Virat Kohli etched his name in the history books during the recently-concluded first semi-final of the ODI World Cup 2023 against New Zealand on Wednesday. The former India skipper smashed a brilliant century (his 50th) and with that he surpassed the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, who had 49 ODI tons to his name.
Virat Kohli attains the feat in the presence of Sachin Tendulkar
Interestingly, Kohli’s 50th ODI hundred came on Tendulkar’s home ground, the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Tendulkar himself witnessed the epic moment as he was in the stands when Kohli achieved the magnificent milestone. As soon as Kohli hit the 50th ODI ton, he came up with a bow down gesture signaling towards Tendulkar, who was standing and clapping for Kohli.
Notably, the Delhi-born cricketer achieved this milestone in significantly fewer innings than the mighty Tendulkar. In the course of his illustrious 24-year career, the legendary batter managed to score 49 centuries in 452 innings, whereas Kohli reached the 50th hundred mark in just 279 innings.
Kamran Akmal predicts who can break Virat Kohli’s record
Upon Tendulkar’s retirement, there was a prevailing belief that his records for ODI centuries were insurmountable, yet Kohli accomplished the unthinkable. Presently, fans are left pondering whether any player could outshine Kohli in the realm of the most ODI tons. Speaking about the same, former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Kamran Akmal has offered his insights on the potential successors to Kohli’s record, predicting not one but two players who could achieve this daunting task.
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Akmal reckoned that Pakistan’s star batter Babar Azam can break Kohli’s record of 50 ODI centuries. Akmal observed that the record for most centuries in ODIs set by Kohli can only be broken by a player who bats in the top three. Akmal further said that Shubman Gill can also chase this record.
“Vo top-3 waale he tod sakte hai 50 hundred ka. Middle-order batsman nahi tod payega. Hamare paas Babar (Azam) hai vo karsakta hai. Top-3 mein khelta hai. Unke paas abhi (Shubman) Gill hai, vo peeche lag sakta hai is record ke (Only the top three batters can break the record of 50 ODI centuries and the middle-order can’t break it. We have Babar Azam who can break it. They have Shubman Gill who can chase the record),” said Akmal on ARY News.
Notably, Babar has played in 117 ODIs for Pakistan so far and has smashed 19 centuries. Recently, he resigned from the captaincy after Pakistan failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the ODI World Cup 2023. Similarly, Gill has 6 hundreds to his name in 43 ODIs.
