Virat Kohli aspires to meet Sachin Tendulkar‘s hopes after matching the master blaster’s ODI centuries record. Virat Kohli’s 35th birthday became extraordinary not only because he scored his 49th ODI century but also due to Sachin Tendulkar’s involvement.
The world had eagerly anticipated Kohli’s achievement of matching Tendulkar’s legendary record, and it finally happened when he scored his fourth World Cup century, his first against South Africa, with a backfoot punch for a single.
The true delight came about 10 minutes later when the cricket genius, Sachin Tendulkar, sent a special message to Kohli.
Cricket Legend Sachin Tendulkar Interacts With the King Kohli
“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,” Tendulkar wrote on X.
https://x.com/sachin_rt/status/1721147544389185802?s=46
After the game, Kohli, who had previously said, ‘It’s time we carried him on our shoulders’ after India’s 2011 World Cup win, once again praised Sachin’s greatness. He admitted he can never be as good as Tendulkar, who he sees as perfect.
Later, as the night came to an end, Kohli had an open conversation with the BCCI, explaining what it meant to him to match Tendulkar’s record and promised to try to fulfill Tendulkar’s wishes.
“Quite an emotional thing for me. I mean, I grew up idolising him, I started to play for India watching him play and just to equal his record in ODIs is a surreal moment for me.”
“I never thought in my wildest dreams that I’ll get here, so I just feel blessed and grateful. As I said in the post match, for me, he is always going to be number one, regardless of whatever happens,” said Kohli.
“I’m just happy that my journey has come so far that I’ve been able to make it till here and be able to win games for my country like he did. I aspire to do the same thing because if I do that, then it means that we have good chances of winning.”
”So I would love to do it a few more times in this tournament. Especially the big ones – the semis and final. So yeah, fingers crossed. Hopefully I can do it.”
India’s last 2023 World Cup group match will be on the upcoming Sunday, November 12, against the Netherlands. A victory in this game will secure India’s spot as the top team going into the semifinals, with the fourth-ranked team likely being their opponents.
Kohli is likely to play in the match, which might surprise some people. He wants to keep playing well, scoring 543 runs in eight innings, as a way to say thanks to his fans on his special day.
“I’m much happier to be in this position where I’m not receiving gifts, but rather I play well and make everyone else happy because it gets a little too much to be able to take wishes and gifts on my birthday.”
“I’ve never quite been the guy who gets very excited for my birthday so I’m just happy to play this way. We’ve won and everyone got happy. A return gift from me on my birthday,” added Kohli.
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