Former South Africa captain and revolutionary batter, AB de Villiers has commended Virat Kohli's achievement, stating that his pace in reaching 49th ODI centuries, equaling Sachin Tendulkar's record, is remarkably swift even in today's cricket era. Kohli recently reached this significant milestone during the ICC Cricket World Cup match against South Africa on November 5, 2023.
Kohli's journey to this feat has been characterised by impressive statistics. He achieved 10,000 runs in fewer innings than Tendulkar, marking a 21% improvement in this regard. In terms of innings, Kohli reached his 49th hundred in just 277 innings, whereas Tendulkar took 451 innings.
In the ongoing World Cup 2023, Kohli has exhibited outstanding form, accumulating 543 runs in eight matches for India.
During a discussion on his YouTube channel, as quoted by Sportskeeda, de Villiers expressed admiration for the speed at which Kohli has achieved 49th ODI hundreds, acknowledging that this accomplishment is particularly noteworthy in today's cricket landscape. De Villiers also emphasised that comparing the timelines of Tendulkar and Kohli's achievements is challenging, as they occurred in two distinct eras.
"It has taken Virat 277 innings to get to 49 hundreds. That is very quick even though it's a new generation kind of thing that is lightning fast," he commented.
"The two of us are really close. We are basically brothers and I am very happy for Virat. It's a new generation and you can't really compare numbers, especially the time in which Sachin did it - 451 innings as against Virat's 277. He's done it in faster time, but the game has changed dramatically since Sachin played. 250 in an ODI innings is almost laughable these days on a good wicket. You look at 400."
After hitting his 49th ODI hundred, Kohli had praised Tendulkar, acknowledging him as a great batter. De Villiers highlighted this as one of Kohli's admirable qualities, noting his tendency to show respect to others.
"Virat also said that in his interview - Sachin will always be the greatest. Virat is always really good like that, giving respect to other people. Especially when he breaks records or when his stats are looking better, he is always the first to say, 'no, no, by no means am I greater than this guy'. Maybe he is, maybe he is not. That's not the point. The point is, he has scored 49 hundreds and that's equal to Sachin's record," said De Villiers.
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