Former England captains Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain have hailed Indian stalwart Virat Kohli as the best batter in the history of the ODI format.

They came up with this assessment after Kohli slammed an unbeaten hundred (100 off 111) to script India’s six-wicket victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in a Champions Trophy match in Dubai on Sunday (February 23).

"Virat Kohli in a run-chase in 50-over cricket, there's been nobody better in the history of the game, really. 51 century is an unbelievable number," said Atherton, who led England in 54 Test matches, on 'Sky Sports Cricket Podcast'.

It was Kohli’s 51st century in the 50-over format. With this knock, he also became the fastest batter to reach the milestone of 14,000 ODI runs, surpassing the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara.

"I mean, he's got 51 and he passed 14,000 runs, which only Tendulkar and Sangakkara have got past that mark in one-day cricket," Atherton continued.

"And he got them in 60-odd innings quicker than Sachin, and I think about 90-odd innings quicker than Kumar.

"So, I mean, ODI is probably his best. You know, he's been a great all-format player, clearly, but you'd probably say that ODI is his absolute best format."

Hussain endorsed his former teammate’s opinion and remarked, "He's been an incredible player. Yeah, and you'd have to say probably the best player in ODIs of all time, really, with those stats you mentioned.

"You'd have Tendulkar in the same conversation. Kumar, you'd have AB de Villiers. They've been some great ones, but he's right at the top of the tree."

(With PTI Inputs)