IND vs ENG ODIs: Virat Kohli eyes Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting's elusive records
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Indian skipper Virat Kohli has played some eye-catching knocks recently but it has been more than a year since the swashbuckling batsman scored a century in international cricket. Kohli will be eyeing records held by Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting when he takes the field for the three-match ODI series against England, starting Tuesday in Pune.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli has played some eye-catching knocks recently but it has been more than a year since the swashbuckling batsman scored a century in international cricket. Kohli will be eyeing records held by Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting when he takes the field for the three-match ODI series against England, starting Tuesday in Pune.
If Kohli goes on to end his century drought and score a ton against England in the three-ODI series then the Indian skipper will overtake Tendulkar's record of most number of centuries scored on home soil by an Indian batsman in ODI cricket.
A century by Kohli in the ODI series will also help him topple Ponting's feat of scoring most centuries scored as captain. Both Ponting and Kohli are currently tied at 22 centuries as captains in international cricket.
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Kohli came close to surpassing Ponting's record of scoring the most number of tons as captain during the fifth T20I against England where the Indian skipper smashed an unbeaten 80 off 52 to help India clinch the five-match series 3-2. He was named the Man of the Series in the England T20Is after scoring 231 runs in 5 innings for Team India.
Ahead of the ODI series, Kohli was asked about how the team deals with players who are going through a rough patch or are completely out of form to which the Indian skipper said: “I can only think about one thing when people talk about a player is out of form. Kuch toh log kahenge logon ka kaam hain kehna (quoting a Hindi song). There is a lot of impatience outside the cricket set up. People love listening to criticism and it has only increased.
“In the team, we know how to manage a player going through a tough patch. It is not as if you forget playing the game, it is just that you don't have the same mental clarity that you would usually have and then there is talk about you, which is another external factor you have to deal with.
“We will continue to back our players and keep them in good mental space,” he added.
India have already defeated England in the Test and T20I series.