Md Azharuddin Backs Kohli to Equal Sachin’s Record of 100 Hundreds

According to Azharuddin, Kohli’s fitness level with the key if he goes on to surpass Ponting and finally Tendulkar.

Virat Kohli’s international tally now stands at 64, with only Ricky Ponting (71) and Sachin Tendulkar (100) ahead of him in the list. 

(Photo: AP)

Former Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin lauded Indian skipper Virat Kohli for his Adelaide heroics which helped India to level the three-match series with a six-wicket win in the second ODI against Australia.

Kohli scored his 39th ODI century in the match as Azhar backed him to equal Sachin Tendulkar's record of 100 international hundreds, but with conditions applied. With Tuesday’s century,

Kohli’s international tally now stands at 64. He has now crossed Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara. Only Ricky Ponting (71) and Sachin Tendulkar (100) is ahead of Kohli in the list of most international centuries by a batsman.

According to Azhar, Kohli’s fitness level with the key if he goes on to surpass Ponting and finally Tendulkar.

“Virat Kohli’s consistency is very good. If he stays fit, he will reach the 100-century mark. He is way ahead of many great players as far as his consistency is concerned. He is a great player and India have hardly lost whenever he has scored a century.”

Mohammed Azharuddin to Sports Tak

Azhar also had a word of praise for Dhoni, whose innings of 55 off 54 deliveries guided India to the thrilling victory after Kohli's departure.

"If you look at the trend whenever India's top three score runs, we go on to win the match. Unfortunately, in the previous match we lost three early wickets, Rohit Sharma did score a century, but we lost. But today (Tuesday), Virat Kohli batted extremely well and MS Dhoni too played well. Dhoni even got tired in the end but he kept his wicket intact. Dinesh Karthik also batted well. Overall, India's performance was very good," Azhar added.