Sachin Tendulkar reacts after Virat Kohli breaks his world record, earmarks ‘big positive’ for India after win vs PAK
Sachin Tendulkar shared his views after Virat Kohli and KL Rahul slammed centuries in India's Super 4 match against Pakistan at the Asia Cup.
Virat Kohli's record-breaking performance against Pakistan produced a noteworthy reaction from legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on Monday. The batting legend was all praise for milestone man Kohli and ex-vice-captain KL Rahul as the duo slammed centuries to help Team India crush Babar Azam's Pakistan in the Super 4 encounter of the Asia Cup 2023 at the famous R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. After Colombo's notorious weather pushed the blockbuster match to the reserve day, Kohli and Rahul resumed Team India's innings at 147-2 following a delayed start.
Rewriting history in the 2023 edition of the continental tournament, batting superstars Kohli and Rahul demolished the Shaheen Shah Afridi-starrer bowling attack in the rain-marred encounter. The former India skipper and versatile wicketkeeper-batter stitched a record-breaking partnership in which both batters notched up their respective centuries. After centuries from Kohli and Rahul propelled Rohit Sharms’s Team India to a gigantic total of 356 against Pakistan, batting icon Tendulkar pointed out a 'big positive' sign for the record-time Asia Cup winners in the lead-up to the ICC World Cup.
‘One big positive sign for Team India is that…’
Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) on Monday, Tendulkar acknowledged the dominance of Indian batters at the Asia Cup. “Congratulations to Virat and KL for their 100s. One big positive sign for #TeamIndia is that all our top 6 batters - Rohit, Shubman, Virat, KL, Ishan and Hardik have scored runs at various stages in the 2 matches. Well played! Keep it up,” Tendulkar wrote.
Kohli breaks Tendulkar's world record
Tendulkar's world record was shattered by Kohli in the recently concluded Super 4 meeting between India and Pakistan at the Asia Cup. Breaking Tendulkar's long-standing record, Kohli became the fifth player to complete 13,000 runs in One Day Internationals (ODIs). Surpassing the Little Master, Kohli has become the quickest batter to score 13k ODI runs. Kohli achieved the staggering feat in just 267 runs while his idol Tendulkar took 321 innings to accumulate 13,000 runs in the 50-over format.
Kohli on cusp of smashing another Tendulkar record
Kohli's match-winning ton against Pakistan in the Asia Cup was also his 47th ODI century. The 34-year-old is only two centuries away from matching Tendulkar's record tally of tons in ODI cricket. The fifth-highest run-getter in the history of the 50-over format, run-machine Kohli has amassed 13,024 runs with an average of 58.62. Former India skipper Tendulkar smashed 18,426 runs in 452 innings for Team India.