Virat Kohli believes it will not be easy to surpass the great man Sachin Tendulkar

Indian skipper Virat Kohli scored his 30th ton in the fifth and final ODI of the series as India whitewashed Sri Lanka 5-0. He shepherded yet another masterful chase and remained unbeaten for his side. Though, Virat believes that it will take a hell of an effort to surpass his idol Sachin Tendulkar in terms of centuries.

Virat, on Sunday, levelled Australian great Ricky Ponting’s 30 centuries. While the legend took 375 ODIs, the Indian achieved the feat in mere 194 matches. Now he is just 19 tons away from the untouchable heights in terms of hundreds, the Master Blaster scaled. However, the comparison between the two always happens and Kohli obliges and appreciates the great man’s career and dedication towards the game every time.

I am not thinking about the record

During the post-match press conference, the familiar question again popped up whether Kohli would break Sachin’s record of most centuries in ODIs. He answered the question with a smile on his face and hailed the master for his contribution to the country. The 28-year-old also said that he is not thinking about the record, to him his team’s victory is more important.

“The great man (Sachin Tendulkar) is quite a bit away. That’s going to take a hell of an effort. Again, I am not thinking about that. It’s only about the team where even if I score a 90 not out and the team goes across the line, it’s good enough for me,” Kohli said after the match.

He felt honoured to have equalled Ponting’s tally and said that the records come all along the career and no one can neglect stats as they keep coming up from everywhere.

“It’s an honour for me to equal someone like Ricky Ponting. That’s not something that you aim for but obviously he’s a great player and as batsmen we all respect what these legends have done,” he added.

“I look to perform as well as I can for the team. These things keep happening as you go along in your career. You don’t target these things, but those stats windows are hard to neglect because they pop up everywhere after you have achieved something,” the owner of 30 centuries believed.

Having bagged the ODI series 5-0, the Men in Blue are gearing up for the one-off T20I against the hosts and would love to sign off the tour with yet another handsome victory.