'Nothing's impossible': Ravi Shastri backs Virat Kohli to break Sachin Tendulkar's record of 100 international centuries

Virat Kohli has all the potential of breaking the legendary Sacin Tendulkar’s record of 100 international centuries, believes former India coach Ravi Shastri.

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On Wednesday, Kohli went onto surpass Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most ODI hundreds with his 50th century in the format, during India’s Cricket World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in Mumbai. Kohli now holds the record for most centuries by a batter in ODIs.



His 106-ball ton against the Kiwis also took his overall centuries tally to 80 in international cricket, only 20 behind Tendulkar.

“Who would have thought when Sachin Tendulkar got 100 hundreds that anyone would come close? And, he’s got 80; 80 international hundreds, 50 of them in the one-day game, which makes him the highest. Unreal,”Ravi Shastri said on the ICC Review podcast.

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Shastri went onto say that nothing was impossible for a player like Kohli. “Nothing’s impossible because such players, when they start reeling off hundreds, then they score them pretty quickly. His next 10 innings, you might see another five hundreds,” added the 61-year-old.

“You have three formats of the game, and he’s part of all those formats. To think that he still has three or four years of cricket ahead of him is simply mind-boggling,” he commented.

Shastri also credited Kohli’s ability to soak under pressure and bat deep into the innings. On Wednesday, Kohli came into bat in the ninth over of India’s innings following Rohit Sharma’s dismissal, and was involved in a couple of big partnerships with Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer to take India to 397.

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“I think his composure, his body language, his calmness at the crease (in this WC). I have seen him come out in previous World Cups where he’s like a cat on a hot tin roof.

“He wanted to get on with it straight away. None of that sort here. He’s taken his time, marked his guard, soaked the pressure, given himself time, and understood his role of batting deep in the innings. He’s just been wonderful,” said the former batting all-rounder.

Shastri and Kohli have shared a special bond since Shastri’s days as India coach, with both of them having worked closely with each other. Shastri said that Kohli’s ability to run accurately between the wickets was due to his physical fitness.

“One of the features of his batting has been his running between the wickets. The fact that he doesn’t have to hit boundaries and sixes, he can run hard between the wickets because of his physical fitness.

“That takes the pressure off him. Even when he’s not getting the boundaries, he’s still rotating the strike. He always has that uncanny ability of making it up towards the back end of the innings,” continued Shastri.

The former Mumbai cricketer said that Kohlii’s batting preparations were a mix of physical fitness, technical thinking and mental shift.

“It’s a mix of all three. (It) gives him some time to be calm and composed at the beginning of the innings.

“His shot selection in the first 10-15 runs, he doesn’t take that extra risk. He’s quite prepared to leave deliveries, knock the ball around,” analysed Shastri.

In New Zealand’s reply on Wednesday, Mohammed Shami stole the show with the ball, finishing with figures of 7/57 to see the Kiwis off for 327 and help India clinch a 70-run win. The victory meant that India finally broke their knickout jinx in ICC tournaments and reach the World Cup final for the first time since 2011.

India will face the winner of the second semi-final between South Africa and Australia in Sunday’s final in Ahmedabad.