Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar lauded Virat Kohli for his batting heroics in India-Sri Lanka ODIs, stating that if the senior batter plays till the age of 40, he can easily achieve 100 tons in international cricket. After years of drought, centuries have started coming again from Virat’s bat in 50-overs format. His current form augurs well for the national team heading into the 2023 ODI World Cup.

The talismanic Indian batter played an unbeaten 110-ball 166 run innings in 3rd ODI, scoring his 74th international and 46th ODI ton. By the virtue of this knock, Virat Kohli (21) broke Sachin’s (20) record of most ODI tons by any batter at home in ODIs. 

“In case he plays, 5 or 6 years, he will get to the 100. There’s no doubt about it. His average is about 6-6 hundreds a year. So if that happens, then surely he can add another 26 hundreds in the next 5-6 years, if he plays till 40. Sachin Tendulkar also played till his 40s and he had kept his fitness. Kohli is very aware of his fitness. He is still, the fastest runner between wickets in this Indian team,” India Today quoted Gavaskar as saying.

“Only when MSD was there, you could say, MS Dhoni was as quick, if not quicker. Today, at this age, he beats the youngsters hands down. Converting 1s into 2s, and 2s into 3s, he is an absolute champion at that. And not just his runs, but for his partners as well. So with that kind of fitness, for him to play till 40 would not be a surprise at all,” he added.

Coming to the Ind vs SL 3rd ODI, India annihilated a clueless Sri Lanka with a record 317-run win in the third ODI to sweep the series in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.

Skipper Rohit Sharma (42 off 49) and Shubman Gill (116 off 97) shared a fluent 95-run opening partnership before Kohli (166 not out off 110) propelled India to a daunting 390 for five.

Sri Lanka succumbed to the high quality fast bowling of Mohammad Siraj who struck four times inside the 10 overs to shut the door on the opposition. Sri Lanka were all out for a meagre 73 in 22 overs, highlighting the gulf between the two teams.

(With PTI Inputs)