KL Rahul ran out of adjectives to describe the greatness of Virat Kohli and hoped that many more "games and centuries" are left for the Indian stalwart in international cricket.
Kohli, who was struggling for runs leading up to the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy 2025, returned to form with an unbeaten match-winning hundred (100 off 111) against arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai last Sunday (February 23).
It was his 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.
Now, Kohli is on the cusp of adding another feather to his illustrious cap. India's final group-stage match against New Zealand on March 2 will mark his 300th ODI appearance, making him just the seventh Indian to achieve this feat.
"No, that's a lot of ODI games and a lot of international games, and yeah, he's been. I mean, words fall short to express how good a player he's been and what a great servant of Indian cricket he's been. Yeah, I'm really happy to see that he got the 100 last game as well, and he's been batting really well, and for a player of his calibre, it was about time that he scores that big century and a match-winning century," Rahul said in a press conference on Friday (February 28).
India's batting unit seemed to have rediscovered old mojo after the Australia tour debacle. Skipper Rohit Sharma hammered a century during the ODI series against England before the Champions Trophy, while his deputy Shubman Gill kicked off the eight-team tournament with a blistering 101* against Bangladesh.
Shreyas Iyer has also impressed everyone with his exploits, offering stability in the middle-order with a touch of aggression.
"So yeah, it's a great place for us as a team to be in, where Rohit's in real good form, Shubman's in real good form, Virat is in real good form, and Shreyas has played and done his part as well. He got a good 60 last game, and even against England, he was striking the ball really well. So overall, the team is looking really good, and Virat is obviously a very important part of the team," Rahul said.
"Virat and Rohit are the senior players, and you are always looking up to them to step up and score when the big games come. And that's what they've been able to do for so many years. So yeah, hopefully, there are many more hundreds left for him and many more games of international cricket," he added.
