As if becoming the most prolific ODI centurion in the history of the game wasn't enough, Virat Kohli brought up his record 50th hundred in a World Cup semifinal at the iconic Wankhede Stadium, with his family and childhood hero cheering from the stands.
"Perfect picture" feels Kohli after 50th ODI ton
The 35-year-old, who now has one more ODI hundred than Tendulkar, equated the circumstances of his record feat to painting "the perfect picture".
"Look, as I said, it's stuff of dreams. You know, Anushka [Sharma, his wife] was sitting right there, Sachin paaji was there in the stands. I mean, it's very difficult for me to explain this but if I could paint the perfect picture, I would want this to be, you know, the picture. My life partner, the person I love the most, she's sitting there. My hero, he's sitting there. And you know, I was able to get to fifty [ODI hundreds] in front of all of them and all these fans in the Wankhede, a historic venue," an emotional Kohli said after scoring 117 off 113 against New Zealand.
"The great man [Sachin Tendulkar] just congratulated me. It feels like a dream. It's too good to be true, it feels surreal. I never thought I'd be here ever in my career, just to help the team so many times," he added.
Tendulkar too conveyed his wishes on a social media post.
"I couldn't be happier that an Indian broke my record. And to do it on the biggest stage -- in the World Cup semifinal -- and at my home ground is the icing on the cake," Tendulkar said. Kohli saluted him after reaching the milestone where he was in the President's Box, along with a galaxy of celebrities, including football legend David Beckham.
"The first time I met you in the Indian dressing room, you were pranked by other teammates into touching my feet. I couldn't stop laughing that day. But soon, you touched my heart with your passion and skill. I am so happy that that young boy has grown into a 'Virat' player," Tendulkar wrote.
This was Kohli's third hundred of the ongoing World Cup, an innings which propelled India to 397 for 4 in the knockout match in Mumbai. Kohli spoke about playing the anchor during this innings and during the tournament as a whole, a role that's been assigned to him by the team management.
"Again, a big game today, I had to kind of play the role that I've played throughout the tournament so that the guys around me can go and express themselves," Kohli said. "Just that everything came together so nicely and we have a great total on the board as well.
"For me, the most important thing is to make my team win. And whatever it takes to do that, I'm ready to do that, whether it's running singles and doubles, hitting boundaries, doing whatever the team wants me to do. I've been given a role in this tournament and I'm trying to play that to the best of my abilities. I try to dig deep, bat long so that the others can, you know, kind of play around me and have that confidence that I'm going into the later overs when I can dominate with the bat as well. So that's the only key to consistency, I guess, just playing according to the situation, playing for your team at all times."
Blog URL: https://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/128516/perfect-picture-feels-kohli-after-50th-odi-ton-sachin-tendulkar
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