INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: The record for most ODI hundreds may currently belong to star batsman Virat Kohli, but former India head coach Ravi Shastri was
adamant that the 35-year-old was on track to surpass Sachin Tendulkar's 100 international hundreds.Kohli has amassed 50 hundreds in ODIs, 29
hundreds in Tests, and one hundred in T20Is, for an overall total of 80 scores above 100
In Wednesday's World Cup semifinal match against New Zealand in Mumbai, Kohli had surpassed Tendulkar's record of 49 one-day hundreds."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," said Shastri during The ICC Review."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."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."Shastri was also in awe of Kohli's ability
to soak in the pressure."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
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," he added.Having worked closely with Kohli throughout his tenure as coach, Shastri said that he can run freely
between the wickets because he maintains his peak level of fitness with a strict diet that includes cardio and fitness control."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
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," he added.Shastri went into further detail on
Kohli's batting practice, which consists of a mix of mental adjustments, technical tweaks, and physical conditioning."It's a mix of all
(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
He's quite prepared to leave deliveries, knock the ball around," he noted
