Will take 'one hell of an effort' to surpass Sachin Tendulkar, says Virat Kohli

The Indian skipper termed it an honour to have equalled Ricky Ponting's 30 ODI hundreds but feels that it will take 'one hell of an effort' to reach anywhere near Tendulkar's world record.

Will take 'one hell of an effort' to surpass Sachin Tendulkar, says Virat Kohli
Courtesy: PTI

New Delhi: Team India skipper Virat Kohli scored his 30th ODI century on Sunday as the visitors humiliated hosts Sri Lanka and won the series 5-0.

With the ton in Colombo, Kohli got one step closer to a long-standing record held by Sachin Tendulkar.

The 28-year old's 30th ton took him level with former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting for the second most number of centuries scored in ODIs, Tendulkar leads the charts with 49.

The Indian skipper termed it an honour to have equalled Ricky Ponting's 30 ODI hundreds but feels that it will take 'one hell of an effort' to reach anywhere near Tendulkar's world record.

"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 at the post-match press conference when the inevitable question of Tendulkar's record cropped up.

"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 once again stressed that a player can't play for records and the team comes first.

"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," said Kohli.

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