Kohli shines bright among best bats

Tribune News Service

Chennai, september 16

In every era there’s a small group of batsmen competing to become the best of their times. Currently, Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Joe Root and Kane Williamson are fighting for the top honours but the Indian skipper has opened up a huge gap between himself and the others as far as scoring ODI hundreds is concerned. 

While Kohli has hit incredible 30 centuries in 194 matches, Smith has eight in 98, Root 10 in 92 and Williamson 9 in 114.

Smith, when told that Kohli was running away from the pack, put it down to the amount of limited-overs cricket India plays. “I think India play a lot more ODI cricket than we do. I’m not sure how many games Virat has played,” Smith said, adding personal accolades and feats don’t mean much to him. “I am not worried about personal accolades or anything like that. I am here to try and win a series.”  While it’s true Kohli has played more games than the other three, it’s no way the only reason behind his century-scoring spree.

Here’s an explanation from the horse’s mouth. “I don’t play for the three-figure mark, maybe that’s why I end up crossing it more time,” said Kohli. “Because I am not thinking about it, so I don’t put myself under pressure to achieve a landmark. Because you want to stay till the end and win the match, things end up happening in that process.”

Given that Kohli has already scored 47 international hundreds, quite a few have begun to feel that he would go past Sachin Tendulkar’s record of hundred centuries. 

The skipper, thankfully, isn’t looking that far ahead. “Whatever time I play for, I will never think of that. For me what’s most important is how can I help the team win, give my 120 per cent every time I step on to the field,” he said. “Personal landmark, if I end up achieving them. They feel good afterwards... but you can’t start of thinking about things because you lose the ultimate goal, which is to win the game.”

Way to go, skipper!