Former Indian fast bowler S Sreesanth is confident that Virat Kohli can break or equal Sachin Tedulkar’s record of 49 ODI hundreds before the 2023 World Cup.
India will take on Bangladesh in their final Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 match at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Friday. The Men in Blue next meet Sri Lanka in the final on Sunday at the same venue. India will next take on Australia at home in three ODIs before the World Cup.
Kohli achieved his 47th ODI ton in the Super 4 match against Pakistan on September 10. He hit an unbeaten 122 off just 94 balls, an innings with nine fours and three sixes.
Speak with SportkeedaSreesanth stated that there is a decent chance of Kohli equaling or surpassing Tendulkar’s record of most one-day tons ahead of the World Cup.
“100 per cent. There are still a few innings to go in the Asia Cup. After that, there is a series against Australia. Virat Kohli could equal or break Sachin Tendulkar’s record before the World Cup,” he opined.
After the Asia Cup, India will play three ODIs against Australia from September 22 to 27.
Talking about Kohli, he has hit 47 tons in 279 ODIs while Tendulkar has managed 49 hundreds in 463 matches.
“He is still young; he can win two more World Cups” – Sreesanth on Chahal’s axe
One of the big decisions made by the Indian team for the 2023 World Cup was to ax ace leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal in favor of all-rounders.
According to Sreesanth, India will miss Chahal due to the conditions on offer during the World Cup. He also urged the leg-spinner not to lose hope and stay positive.
“India will miss Chahal because the circumstances are like this. Chahal’s thinking should be: yes, I deserve to be in the XI, but I am confident that I will get better opportunities. I saw one of his wickets in County. It was similar to how Shane Warne had bowled Mike Gatting – bowled off stump onto a front foot defence. It was a dream come true for a leg-spinner,” he said.
“He is in good shape. The only thing I would say to him is: keep working hard, keep believing. He is still young; he can win two more World Cups,” the former India pacer concluded.
Chahal has played 72 ODIs for India and claimed 121 wickets at an average of 27.13 and an economy rate of 5.26.
Quick links
More from Sportskeeda