Virat Kohli seems to be in a good headspace; he can break Sachin Tendulkar's ODI record: Suresh Raina

Former India cricketer Suresh Raina has given his take on whether Virat Kohli can break Sachin Tendulkar’s ODI century record. Notably, Kohli notched up his 47^th ODI ton in the Asia Cup Super Four clash against Pakistan on September 11 in India’s convincing 228-run win. His unbeaten 122 led alongside an equally dominating century from comeback man KL Rahul led India to post a formidable 356/2, before Kuldeep Yadav ran riot with the ball to help India to a record win.

En route to his dominant knock, Kohli also became the fastest to achieve the landmark of 13000 ODI runs, bringing it up in his 267^th innings, with Tendulkar now a distant second (321 innings). Kohli’s 47^th ODI century was his 77^th overall in international cricket, with 29 Test hundreds and a solitary one in T20I cricket. While he still has some way to go to reach close to Tendulkar’s mind-boggling tally of 100 international centuries, he is within a touching distance of his long-standing ODI record of 49.

Raina reckoned that Kohli will surpass that mark and make a half-century of centuries by the end of the upcoming three-ODI series against Australia at home ahead of the World Cup.  

“Virat Kohli looks in great touch and has been batting exceptionally. Sachin (Tendulkar) paaji has 49 and Virat has 47. I think he can get his fiftieth hundred by the India-Australia series, batting at No. 3, there are a lot of overs as well and we know he loves to play against Australia,” Raina said on JioCinema's Insiders Live.

“So, I would say yes, he can break Tendulkar’s record. He’s been really enjoying his batting and seems to be in a really good headspace after the birth of his daughter and a partner who constantly supports him. Also, the way he’s been monitoring his cricket and fitness as always. I am sure Virat is only thinking about defeating Australia 3-0 and not about paaji’s record,” he added.

Raina also spoke about Kohli’s mindset and his performances. “I spoke to Virat in Amsterdam when he was with his family. He seemed to be enjoying himself and needed a break from cricket. He’s been enjoying his batting and has been giving good advice to the youngsters as well, as you can see with KL Rahul. I think even Sachin paaji will be really happy – It’s amazing how in this current era he has managed to become the first batter to score thirteen thousand runs and also taking into account his exceptional run ratio.

“Also, I think for any athlete it’s important to have peace of mind. One might score a hundred today and get out for a duck tomorrow, but Kohli always stays the same, very similar to paaji. Earlier, our god of cricket was Sachin paaji with his impeccable feats on the pitch and it’s amazing to see how Virat has carried that brand of cricket and that legacy forward. Whenever there is a pressure situation, Virat plays with his heart out and lets the bat do the talking,” he said.