"Virat and Rohit are the ones." These were Sachin Tendulkar's words when he was asked 11 years ago to pick a player who can break his records in international cricket. Virat Kohli levelled his record of scoring most centuries in ODI cricket on Sunday (November 5) at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. It was also the maestro's birthday which made the moment even more memorable.
While Kohli has already broken several records of Tendulkar, all eyes were on the most centuries record which seemed impossible to break a decade ago. The former got perilously close to levelling his idol against New Zealand and Sri Lanka but got out on 95 and 88 respectively. However, he didn't miss out on a chance to do so against South Africa and most importantly, held one end strongly on a tough pitch to bat on.
Interestingly, it was Sachin Tendulkar himself who had predicted that the likes of Rohit Sharma and Kohli will break his records in future a massive 11 years ago. It was the event oganised by Mukesh Ambani to celebrate master blaster's illustrious career in 2012 after he announced retirement from ODI cricket. During the event, Bollywood actor Salman Khan had then asked Sachin if any player will be able to break his records. "Kya lagta hai aapko? seedhe seedhe bolo nahi tod payega (what do you think of this, ok say that no one can do it)," Salman had asked.
Responding to this, Sachin Tendulkar had said, "I think those who can, are sitting in this room only. I can see those youngsters. Virat and Rohit are the ones. As long as an Indian breaks it, I don't mind," Tendulkar had said.
Watch video here (watch from 4:35)
For the unversed, on the back of Virat Kohli's record-levelling century and Ravindra Jadeja's five-wicket haul helped India beat South Africa by a massive margin of 243 runs to strengthen their position at the top of the points table.
