Kohli notched up his 47th ODI ton in the Asia Cup Super-4 clash against Pakistan.
Resuming his innings on 8, Kohli anchored India’s innings brilliantly. The right-hander took time to get his eyes in and then made a mockery of the Pakistani bowling attack.
Virat notched up his half-century in 55 balls before he put a pedal on the accelerator. The former India skipper was equally severe on both spinners and the pacers as it took him only 29 deliveries to complete the second fifty.
Kohli eventually racked up 122 not out off 94 balls with 9 fours and 3 sixes and shared an unbroken 233-run stand with KL Rahul (111* off 106 balls) to propel India to a massive 356/2 in 50 overs.
With this knock, Virat Kohli took his ODI tons tally to 47 and his international centuries mark to 77. He is only three hundreds away from surpassing the legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 49 ODI tons and 24 shy of breaking the latter’s 100 international centuries record.
Meanwhile, Pakistan pace legend Waqar Younis has backed Kohli to score a lot more centuries as he feels the Indian great is far from finishing his cricketing career.
“The difference between him and other players, even Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin Tendulkar, when he finished, had 49 hundreds (ODIs). I can promise you Virat is a long way from finishing his career or being done with cricket. He will end up with a lot more (hundreds) than anybody can think," Waqar told Star Sports.
It was a typical Kohli hundred against Pakistan as he accumulated the runs via 38 singles and 15 twos before changing gears towards the end of the innings.
After watching Kohli’s swift running between the wickets, Waqar felt sorry for KL Rahul, who was returning after an injury hiatus and had to run a lot.
“I felt sorry for KL Rahul because he was coming out of injury and he had to run with this man. He runs like a crazy man. Doesn’t miss a single, doesn’t miss any extra run because he wants to be the best. He wants to be the best in anything he does, batting, fielding or running between the wickets. And what he loves himself is his work on fitness," he remarked.