Happy with 50 international tons but hungry for more, says Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli became the second Indian batsman after Sachin Tendulkar to register 50 international hundreds.

Courtesy: PTI

New Delhi: Team India skipper Virat Kohli's purple patch continued as he slammed his 18th Test century during the first Test against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens on Monday. 

With this, he also became the second Indian batsman after Sachin Tendulkar to register 50 international hundreds. 

In the list of most number of international centuries, Kohli is now at the eight spot behind Brian Lara who has 53.

However, with 18 Test hundreds, Kohli has now raced ahead of Dilip Vengsarkar tally of 17.

He is currently sixth on the list of Indians with the most number of Test centuries. Only Mohammed Azharuddin (22), Virender Sehwag (23), Sunil Gavaskar (34), Rahul Dravid (36) and Sachin Tendulkar (51) are ahead of him.

In the list of fastest players to reach 50 centuries in International cricket, Kohli equalled Hashim Amla’s record of achieving it in 348 innings.

"It (50 international hundreds) feels good. It hasn't been a long journey yet," Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony after the first Test between India and Sri Lanka ended in a draw.

"If I can step up and perform, that will give me more pleasure than thinking of the number of hundreds I have. That will remain the mindset till I play this game," he added.

Kohli scored an unbeaten 104 as India declared their second innings at 352 for eight, which left Sri Lanka with an improbable 231 to chase in little over a session.

The target was out of reach but the Indian bowlers went full throttle, raising a hope of a victory by reducing Sri Lanka to 75 for seven before umpires called off the play due to deteriorating light.

Asked about India's mindset going into the final session, Kohli said he was pleased with the character shown by his team to make the match interesting despite losing a considerable amount of play due to rain.

"It was important to make something out of the game with whatever time we had. Conditions changed drastically over the five days. We had to show character, having been on the backfoot on day one and day two," he said.

"The team showed a lot of character. We didn't look at batting collapse. We believed in our strengths. If you didn't have intent on this wicket, it would've been difficult to survive. That was the key. All in all, we're proud of how we finished."

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was adjudged man-of-the-match for his impressive match figures of eight for 96 and Kohli was all praise for the bowler. He said that the swing bowler has now become an automatic selection in India's Test playing XI.

"Bhuvneshwar's bowling has picked up the pace, his ball is heavier than what it used to be. He grabs his chances every time he comes into the team. He's a massive contender to start in every Test for India, he'll be a vital part of our plans, especially overseas," said Kohli.

With PTI inputs.