Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli started 2023 with a bang as he registered his 45th ODI century in the first ODI against Sri Lanka at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. Walking out to bat at number 3 with all-guns-blazing, Virat started attacking the Sri Lankan bowlers from the word go. He played a stunning knock of 113 runs off 87 runs. His stunning knock was laced with 12 boundaries and a solitary six.
Kohli not just helped the Indian cricket team to take the total past 350 but also achieved a few personal milestones. King Kohli also equaled Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most ODI hundreds at home. Now both Sachin and Kohli have 20 centuries at home, which is the joint-most by any player. But interestingly, while Kohli amassed the tally in 160 innings, Kohli has managed the same in 100 innings only.
Meanwhile, as soon as Kohli achieved this special milestone, social media was once again flooded with reactions from fans comparing both the legends. While fans and experts claimed that Kohli is in the same league as Sachin, however, former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir completely ruled out such comparisons saying Kohli can’t be compared to Sachin.
Explaining his claim, Gambhir said that there were no such field restrictions like today during Sachin’s time and hence Sachin can’t be compared to anyone from this generation. He said: “you can’t compare Virat with Sachin. In Sachin’s era there weren’t 5 players inside the 30-yard circle,” Gambhir said to Star Sports.
He added: “It was pretty ordinary bowling. The top three of the Indian batting line-up have got lots and lots of runs behind them. Rohit and Kohli obviously, Shubman also has the ability to get so many runs in international cricket. And how easy it was for Rohit and Shubman to get runs today. That was a surprise for me. You have to be consistent and Sri Lanka’s bowling outing was very very disappointing for me,”
Talking about the game, India posted a mammoth target of 373/7 in their 50 overs while batting first. While Rohit Sharma (88) and Shubman Gill (70) scored half-centuries, Kohli amassed 113 runs from 87 balls.
