Ricky Ponting backs Virat Kohli to go past Sachin Tendulkar’s 100 centuries

Virat Kohli celebrates his 71st ton in Asia Cup 2022 (PC: Twitter)

Virat Kohli recently listed his 71st international ton by smacking an unbeaten 122 against Afghanistan at the 2022 Asia Cup. Notably, the cricketer’s match-winning knock marked his first triple-digit score across any international format since November 2019.

Despite his three-year century drought for India, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting still believes Kohli can go past Sachin Tendulkar’s world record tally of 100 tons.

Ponting backs Kohli to reach 100 international tons

Kohli’s 71st hundred equalled him with Ricky Ponting in terms of most centuries registered in international cricket. As of now, the former Indian skipper is only trailing all-time great Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 100 hundreds.

Even though it took Kohli nearly three years to get to his 71st, the Australian great still believes it is possible for him to go past the ‘Master Blaster’. While speaking on the latest ICC Review, the cricketer-turned-coach said:

“If you would have asked me three years ago, I’d have said yes. But the fact that it has slowed down as much as it did yeah, I still think that it is possible for him, there’s no doubt. I still think he has got a number of years ahead of him, but I guess to still be 30 international hundreds behind, that’s a lot.”

“I’ll never say never with Virat because you know once he gets on a bit of a roll, you know how hungry he is and how keen for success he is. I’ll never say never that’s for sure.”

Kohli will now feature for India in their upcoming three-match T20I series against Australia. The right-hander is also slated to represent his national side at the T20I World Cup in Australia next month.

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