For a man who writes his own scripts, a record-equalling 49th ODI century on his 35th birthday was as dramatic a scenario as Virat Kohli could have constructed. To share space on the summit with his childhood idol must mean something very special to today’s king of Indian cricket, even if he always seemed destined to break many records that the master batsman of Indian cricket set while compiling a century of centuries.
The cricketer who carried Tendulkar on his shoulders the day India last won the ODI World Cup stands shoulder to shoulder with him today and will, perhaps exceed him in achievements as he is intensely focused on winning the 2023 World Cup for Team India. It was a workmanlike century rather than one of flashy dominance that Kohli usually commands, but it was all too important from the team’s point of view to keep the innings together as pitch conditions changed to pose a challenge.
In a 15-year journey in international cricket, Kohli has achieved many things and yet faced criticism for wearing his heart on his sleeve and being overly aggressive on the field. He has been trolled for his love story with a Bollywood actress and chided for Team India’s lack of major trophy success for nearly a decade under his captaincy.
One constant has been his committed gathering of international runs in triple-format modern cricket for himself and for India in a team game that offers such scope for individuals to shine. There is one story, not apocryphal, that defines Kohli best. The day after his father died, he continued batting in determined fashion towards a century that was scuttled by a cruel umpiring decision when he was just short of the landmark. A despondent Kohli then trudged off, teary-eyed, to the funeral.
Even today, it is a desire to excel that drives a fiercely motivated cricketer who trains like an iron man in the gymnasium and practises every stroke to perfection in the nets and runs between wickets with the enthusiasm of a schoolboy batter. He still shows the aggression that is a stamp of a new and confident India.
It may be unfair to compare exquisite performers like Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, but the stats say Kohli made his 49th ODI century in 277 innings while Sachin took 451. And still one of them is just a ‘king’ while the other is a cricketing ‘god.’
