Virat Kohli had a dream run in the ODI series against South Africa that ended on Saturday. With two centuries and one unbeaten half-century, Kohli has put all speculation over his future to rest. During the final ODI at Visakhapatnam, Virat scored 65* off 45 balls, with six fours and three sixes. His shot-making was reminiscent of his prime years, as he looked effortless and hard-hitting right from ball one, aiming to impose his will on the bowlers from the start.
In 13 ODIs this year, Virat has continued his fine form with 651 runs in 13 innings at an average of 65.10, with three centuries and four fifties, and a best score of 135. With his two centuries against South Africa, Kohli took his tally of international tons across three formats to 84. He needs 17 more to surpass Sachin Tendulkar’s world record tally of 100 international centuries.
Gavaskar believes Kohli has it in him to surpass Sachin. “Why not? If he plays for three more years, he needs 17 more centuries. The way he is batting-in a three-match series he has scored two tons. So, going forward in the New Zealand series (in January), if he scores two centuries, that would take him to 85 (or 86). The most important thing is that he is enjoying his batting. The batting that he did today, it never felt that the match was going out of his hand,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
“We saw Virat’s T20 avatar in the ODI today. He did not play a single poor shot. There was no inside or outside edge. He was in terrific form. About 40 days remain for the next ODI series (vs New Zealand). If the series was right now, he would have scored two or three centuries.”
During this series, Virat took his fans on a ride back to 2016-19 in terms of aggression, shot-making, and dominance, scoring 302 runs at an average of 151.00 and a strike rate of 117.05, with two centuries and a fifty.
Against South Africa in 34 ODIs and 32 innings, he has scored 1,806 runs at an average of 72.24, with a strike rate of almost 90, including seven centuries and nine fifties, with a best score of 160*.