India’s Virat Kohli, the modern-day great, smashed his 50th One Day International hundred and broke the record of the highest number of 50-over tons by another legend of the game, Sachin Tendulkar, at the famous Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai during Wednesday's first semi-final of the World Cup.
Known as King Kohli for his outstanding career where he has numerous records under his belt, the former captain got the perfect stage to rise to the occasion and produce another masterclass of an innings in front of a jam-packed home crowd at the Wankhede.
The right-hander came out to bat after skipper Rohit Sharma (47 off 29) got out following a blistering start in the ninth over.
Kohli’s first scoring shot was a lucky escape as he survived a close leg before wicket appeal off his second delivery.
It was a slight inswinging delivery from Tim Southee which hit Kohli on his right thigh.
The appeal looked close as New Zealand took a review after the umpire turned it down.
The TV replay showed there was a tiny spike while the ball was passing the bat and later it hit his pad and raced towards the boundary.
It was a lucky charm for the 35-year old.
But after that, it was complete dominance from Kohli as he was timing the ball superbly.
Kohli scored 117 runs off 113 with nine fours and two sixes to give India an ideal platform for a huge total.
The celebration of the century was a bit emotional from Kohli as he bowed in respect for the applauding Tendulkar before acknowledging his wife Anushka Sharma in the stands.
"It's stuff of dreams, Anushka was sitting right there, Sachin paaji was there in the stands. 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 (Tendulkar), 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," Kohli said while being interviewed during the innings break.
Tendulkar, one of the greatest of all time, also paid tribute and showered praise on Kohli who just took the throne of the highest ODI hundreds, and also said on his social media handle that he is happy that an Indian broke his record.
“The first time I met you in the Indian dressing room, you were pranked by other teammates into touching my feet. I couldn’t stop laughing that day. But soon, you touched my heart with your passion and skill. I am so happy that that young boy has grown into a ‘Virat’ player,” said Tendulkar.
“I couldn’t be happier that an Indian broke my record. And to do it on the biggest stage - in the World Cup semi-final - and at my home ground is the icing on the cake.”
Kohli bagged his 50th ODI ton in 279 innings.
Tendulkar (49 centuries in 452 innings) is second on the list, followed by Rohit (31 in 253) in third, Australia’s Ricky Ponting (30 in 365) in fourth and Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya (28 in 433) in fifth.
Kohli is the highest run-scorer in the ongoing World Cup with 711 runs from 10 innings, including three hundreds and five half-centuries, at a brilliant average of 101.57.
