“I hope you go from 49 to 50…”: Sachin Tendulkar congratulates Virat Kohli for record equaling 49th ODI ton

Kolkata (West Bengal)[India], November 5(ANI): Master blaster Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar congratulated Virat Kohli for equalling his record of most ODI tons in the ongoing World Cup clash with South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Kohli scored an unbeaten 101 against South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata to equal his role model's record of 49 ODI centuries.
"Well played Virat. It took me 365 days to go from 49 to 50 earlier this year. I hope you go from 49 to 50 and break my record in the next few days. Congratulations!!" posted Sachin Tendulkar on X (Formerly known as X)
Kohli made this upward movement in record books in the match against South Africa on Sunday.
In the match, Kohli scored 101 runs on 121 balls with 10 fours and a strike rate of 83.47.
In 34 matches, Kohli has 1,573 runs at an average of 58.25, with four centuries and 10 fifties. His best score is 107. Sachin (2,278 runs) is the highest scorer ever in WC history. Sangakkara has 1,532 runs in his WC career.
Now in eight WC 2023 matches, Kohli has scored 542 runs at an average of 108.40, with two centuries and four fifties. His best score is 103*. He is the second-highest run-getter in the tournament so far.
He also continued his red-hot form against South Africa in ODIs.
In the last 15 innings against SA in ODIs, Kohli smashed 1,091 runs at an average of over 109, with five centuries and five fifties.
Also, Kohli equalled compatriot and legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI tons on Sunday.
He is now just one century away from becoming the first player to smash 50 ODI centuries.
The century is also Kohli's 79th in international cricket. Virat has smashed 49 centuries in ODIs, 29 in Tests, and one in T20Is.
His record-equalling ton came at the same ground where he scored his first-ever international ton against Sri Lanka in 2009.
The star batter has the second-highest number of centuries in international cricket, next to Tendulkar's 100 centuries.
In bringing up his 49th ODI century, Kohli also joined an elite company of batters who scored a century on their birthdays. These elite members include Sachin himself, Vinod Kambli, Sanath Jayasuriya, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham and Mitchell Marsh.
119 balls is the joint-most balls Virat has taken for a century, with his century against Pakistan in 2015 at Adelaide and against South Africa in 2018 in Cape Town coming in the same amount of balls. (ANI)