Can Virat Kohli break Sachin Tendulkar's record of 100 international centuries? Sunil Gavaskar answers

In the third game against Sri Lanka, Kohli scored his second-highest ODI score of 166* off 110 balls, which enabled the Men in Blue compile a massive 390.

Zee News

In terms of international centuries, it took Virat Kohli more than a thousand days to go from 70 to 71, but it only took him a little more than a month to go from 71 to 74. Now that the former Indian captain is back, he is once again the beast he once was in international cricket, especially in ODIs. Regarding Kohli's pursuit of Sachin Tendulkar's record for most hundreds, aspirations have been revived. There is still a long way to go, but Kohli has returned to the driver's seat after scoring three hundred in his last four one-day internationals. Legendary Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar shares this opinion.

Sachin Tendulkar's 10000th run

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Virat Kohli's 10000th run pic.twitter.com/if9fr313Q0

— Chikoo (@tweeterrant) October 24, 2018

If Kohli continues to play for another 5–6 years and benefits from his longevity, the former India captain predicted that he will easily surpass Tendulkar's record. Gavaskar claimed that Tendulkar continued to play into his 40s, and Kohli, 34, can certainly do the same given the level of fitness he has established for himself.

"In case he plays, 5 or 6 years, he will get to the 100. There's no doubt about it. His average is about 6-7 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," Gavaskar said on Aaj Tak.

In the third game against Sri Lanka, Kohli scored his second-highest ODI score of 166* off 110 balls, which enabled the Men in Blue to compile a massive 390.

"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. 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," Gavaskar further added.

More than anything else, Gavaskar claimed that if Kohli or anyone else can maintain their love for the game for a significant amount of time, it will last and can inspire them to play for one or two more years.

"I don't think so (problem playing all formats and IPL). It's your love for the game that sustains you. Sometimes, it's that love for the game that keeps your going for a year or two more than you should. If your love for the game is there, you can go for a long time. When that is there, I don't think there is any worry about lasting long," Gavaskar further said.