India batter becomes the first to score 50 ODI hundreds, and also breaks Tendulkar’s record for most runs in a World Cup
ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2023
Virat Kohli’s 50th ODI hundred was his highest score in a knockout game of an ICC tournament•ICC/Getty Images
After becoming the first batter to score 50 ODI centuries, Virat Kohli described the moment as “the perfect picture,” for having achieved the record in a World Cup semi-final against New Zealand, in front of his wife Anushka Sharma and Sachin Tendulkar, the man whose record he broke.As he flicked Lockie Ferguson behind square in the 42nd over of India’s innings and completed the two that got him to his 50th hundred, Kohli celebrated with a leap and a punch in the air, before taking off his helmet, raising his arms and bowing towards the stands, where Tendulkar and Anushka stood applauding the achievement.”It’s stuff of dreams, Anushka was sitting right there, Sachin was there in the stands,” Kohli said while being interviewed during the innings break. “I mean, it’s very difficult for me to explain this, but if I could paint the perfect picture, I would want this to be the picture. My life partner, the person I love the most, she’s sitting there. My hero, he’s sitting there. And I was able to get the 50th in front of all of them and all these fans at Wankhede as well, such a historic venue. It was amazing.”Related
Who's the greatest ODI batter of them all? Two contenders come to mind
School's out as Rohit, Iyer rip up the textbooks in Mumbai
Shami turns jeopardy into joy as India briefly confront their own mortality
Crazy, stupid, love: a Tendulkar fan's complicated relationship with Kohli
While Tendulkar had scored his 49th hundred in his 451st ODI innings, Kohli had equalled that landmark in just 277 innings – against South Africa in India’s penultimate league game of this World Cup – and then broke the record in his 279th innings.”I said it in Kolkata, the great man (Sachin Tendulkar) just congratulated me, all this feels like a dream for me, honestly,” Kohli said. “It’s too good to be true, feels surreal, I never thought I’ll be here ever in my career. Just to help the team so many times, again, a big game today, I had to kind of play the role I’ve played throughout the tournament so that the guys around me can go and express themselves. Just glad that everything came together so nicely and we put up a great total on the board as well.”