Kohli: Breaking Tendulkar's 49 ODI tons record will be ‘emotional moment’

Former India captain Virat Kohli has admitted that breaking Sachin Tendulkar‘s record of 49 ODI centuries would indeed be an “emotional moment” for him.

When Tendulkar ended his career with 49 ODI hundreds, including the final one which was also his 100th international ton, not many thought that anyone would get even close to the Little Master.

However, the 34-year-old Kohli now has 46 hundreds from 274 ODI games and will require three more to emulate his childhood idol and one-time teammate.

Also read: 50th Birthday: The A to Z of Sachin Tendulkar’s life and cricket career

Kohli, when asked about his thoughts on reaching that milestone, he quickly says, “it will be a very emotional moment for me”.

The conversation also included Kohli talking about his childhood memories of playing cricket with older boys and highlighting the importance of sports.

“Sports teaches you some values of life, discipline and planning. It opens up your side, making you a productive person. No matter which profession you are in, the value of playing sport is immense.

“Don’t make them (students) just play sports, teach them. It is important to teach them small details of what it means to play a sport, Kohli adds as he further recalls the incident that took off the pressure of studies from him when his schools vice principal advised him to religiously follow cricket.”

Also read: Virat Kohli creates IPL history

Featuring Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MC Mary Kom, Chhetri, Harmanpreet Kaur and para-athlete Avani Lekhara, PUMAs six-part docu-series, in association with Disney+ Hotstar, takes a deep dive into journeys of these sporting greats and showcases the impact of sports and fitness in their lives.

(With agency inputs)