Brian Lara, the legendary former West Indies cricketer, recently discussed the challenges the star Indian batsman Virat Kohli might face in surpassing the 100 international centuries record of the legendary Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar.
During the semi-final of the recently concluded 50-over World Cup 2023, the Indian batsman Virat Kohli made history against New Zealand by scoring his 50th century, surpassing Tendulkar’s record, who finished with 49 tons in the format.
While many predict Kohli to break the records of Tendulkar, however, Lara expressed a differing opinion.
Lara emphasized that it will be a difficult task for a 35-year-old to surpass Tendulkar’s tally, he calculated that if Kohli scored five centuries every year – which is a tough job – he would still need four more to equal Tendulkar’s record.
“Can’t say with certainty, no one can. Those saying Kohli will break Tendulkar’s 100-centuries record won’t be taking cricketing logic into account. 20 centuries seem a long way away. Most cricketers can’t score that in their entire career. I won’t be adventurous and say Kohli will do it. Age doesn’t stop for anyone. Kohli will break many more records but 100 centuries seems the most difficult one,” Lara said in an interview.
However, Lara noted that only Kohli could come close to Tendulkar’s record, lauding Kohli’s discipline and dedication.
The former West Indian Captain expressed admiration for Kohli’s preparation and conveyed his best wishes for Kohli’s success.
Despite the difficulty of the task, Lara mentioned that Kohli’s commitment could potentially bring him near the monumental record.
While responding to criticism over Kohli’s performance, Brian Lara stated that those criticizing Kohli are jealous of him as he also faced similar situations in his career.
Virat Kohli finished the ODI World Cup 2023 as the leading run-getter. In 11 games, he amassed 765 runs at an average of 95.62 and scored three centuries.
However, a section of the cricket fraternity believed that he played slowly to get a couple of his tons. Lara didn’t buy into that school of thinking and said that the naysayers are envious of Kohli’s quality.
“Those are saying all these are jealous of him. They are envious of the amount of runs he has scored. I have faced this too in my career,” Lara said.
