Cricket: Virat Kohli matches Sachin Tendulkar’s 49 ODI tons – ‘To equal my hero’s record is special’

India’s Virat Kohli equalled Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 one-day international hundreds when he reached three figures at the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup match against fellow semi-finalists South Africa on Sunday.

Kohli, on his 35th birthday, got to the landmark in 119 balls, including 10 fours, at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens. It had taken him 277 innings to score 49 hundreds at this level compared to the 438 required by fellow India 2011 World Cup-winner Tendulkar.

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Tendulkar led the tributes to Kohli, the retired India great writing on X, formerly Twitter: “Well played Virat. It took me 365 days to go from 49 to 50 (in age) earlier this year. I hope you go from 49 to 50 and break my record in the next few days. Congratulations.”

On Sachin’s message, Kohli told the broadcasters in the post-match presentation, “It is all too much for me to take in now, to equal my hero’s record is something special for me. He is perfection when it comes to batting. It’s a very emotional moment for me. I know where I come from, I know the days I have watched him on TV. Just to get that...

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