Virat Kohli can match Sachin Tendulkar's 100-century mark if he plays for 24 years: Pathan

Sachin Tendulkar announced his international retirement in 2013 after claiming nearly every major Test and ODI batting record in the world. To this date, some of his milestones still remain unscathed including the records for amassing most international runs and most international centuries. However, current Indian captain Virat Kohli, who debuted in 2008, has significantly narrowed the gap with the ‘Master Blaster’ as he continues to rack up the runs in all formats of the game.

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Irfan Pathan compares Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli

In a recent interview with Sports Tak, Irfan Pathan stated that Virat Kohli could break Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most centuries, but only if the Indian captain manages to maintain longevity like the cricketing great. Irfan Pathan, who retired earlier this year, is of the opinion that the difference between the records of the two batsmen will factor upon Kohli’s longevity as well as his fitness levels. At present, the Indian captain is 30 centuries away from Sachin Tendulkar’s 100-century tally.

Virat Kohli centuries and records

Virat Kohli is currently ranked World No. 1 in ODIs and World No. 2 in Tests as per ICC rankings for batsmen. The right-handed batsman is also the only cricketer in the world to hold an average of 50-plus simultaneously in all three international formats. Virat Kohli has already broken a distinct Sachin Tendulkar ODI record by becoming the fastest batsman in the world to reach 10,000 and 11,000 runs in 50-overs cricket. 

To sum up his runs and century tally, Virat Kohli has scored 7,240 runs in 86 Tests with 27 centuries and 11,867 runs in 248 ODIs with 43 centuries. He has also aggregated 2,794 T20I runs across 76 innings with 24 half-centuries. Overall, Virat Kohli’s 70 international hundreds place him third in the all-time century makers list behind Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting.

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Sachin Tendulkar centuries and records

Even though Virat Kohli has closed the gap with Sachin Tendulkar since his debut in 2008, the Indian captain still has a long way to go in catching up with some staggering batting records set by the latter. Sachin Tendulkar made his international debut in 1989 as a 16-year old and remained one of the mainstays of the Indian batting line-up until his retirement.

During his 24-year international journey, Tendulkar amassed 34,357 international runs across 200 Tests, 463 ODIs and one T20I to lead the all-time run-scoring charts. The former Indian captain also registered 51 centuries in Tests and 49 tons in ODIs. With 100 international centuries, he is currently 29 centuries ahead of second-placed Ricky Ponting (71) and 30 tons ahead of his contemporary, Virat Kohli (70).

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