Former Pakistan gun fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has backed Virat Kohli to break Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 100 International centuries. Kohli has so far scored 75 International tons in his glorious career and looks in great shape and form to score a lot more.
The Indian talisman scored his 75th International hundred in the fourth Test match against Australia at Ahmedabad when he scored 186 runs. Kohli has already scored 46 ODI centuries in the 50-overs version and he will look to add more to his tally in the ODI series against Australia.
Kohli has scored five International centuries in the last few months after going through a rough patch in a couple of previous seasons. The 34-year-old from Delhi has been a consistent performer, especially in the 50-over format and he would want to score big against the Aussies.
“Virat Kohli had to get back in form so it’s nothing new for me. The pressure of captaincy was on him, finally, he is now mentally free. Now he will play with so much focus. I have complete faith in him that he will score 110 centuries and break the record of Sachin Tendulkar’s 100 international tons. Now he doesn’t have a load of captaincy and will score runs like a beast,” Akhtar was quoted as saying to ANI.
On the other hand, the Rawalpindi Express, as he is known, added that he told his teammates he will dismiss Sachin Tendulkar in Kolkata Test in 1999. Akhtar had bowled two jaffas to get rid of Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid on consecutive balls.
“I remember once I told my teammates that I would take the wicket of Sachin. At that time, we were playing in Kolkata. On the very first ball, I bagged the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar in front of a 1 lakh crowd. I still remember half of the ground went empty after Sachin returned,” he added.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli will be seen in action in the first ODI against Australia, which will be played at the Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai on Friday.
