“Even though it’s a new generation thing that is lightning fast” - AB de Villiers on Virat Kohli scoring 49 ODI tons in 277 innings 

Former South African batter AB de Villiers has described Virat Kohli’s feat of reaching 49 ODI tons in 277 innings as lightning-fast. Agreeing that things were quite different during the era of Sachin Tendulkar, who took 451 innings to score the same number of hundreds, De Villiers added that Kohli’s achievement is still an incredible one.

Kohli brought up his 49th ODI century on his 35th birthday in the 2023 match against South Africa at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The right-handed batter scored 101* off 121 balls and was named Player of the Match as the Men in Blue hammered the Proteas by 243 runs.

In a video on his YouTube channel, De Villiers agreed that Kohli and Tendulkar’s records cannot be compared since the two played in completely different eras. He, however, stated that Kohli’s numbers are outstanding even by new-generation standards.

“It has taken Virat 277 innings to get to 49 hundreds. That is very quick even though it’s a new generation kind of thing that is lightning fast,” he commented.

While opening up about his personal bond with Kohli, the South African legend hailed the Indian batter’s record and said:

“The two of us are really close. We are basically brothers and I am very happy for Virat. It’s a new generation and you can’t really compare numbers, especially the time in which Sachin did it - 451 innings as against Virat’s 277. He’s done it in faster time, but the game has changed dramatically since Sachin played. 250 in an ODI innings is almost laughable these days on a good wicket. You look at 400.”

In 277 ODI innings, Kohli has amassed 13626 runs at an average of 58.48 and a strike rate of 93.55, with 49 hundreds and 70 fifties.

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“Virat is always really good like that, giving respect to other people” - AB de Villiers

After scoring his record-equaling 49th ODI ton, Kohli downplayed all the comparisons with Tendulkar and stated that he could never be as good as his hero.

Praising the former Indian captain’s personality, De Villiers said that Kohli always gives respect to the greats of the game.

“Virat also said that in his interview - Sachin will always be the greatest. Virat is always really good like that, giving respect to other people. Especially when he breaks records or when his stats are looking better, he is always the first to say, ‘no, no, by no means am I greater than this guy'. Maybe he is, maybe he is not. That’s not the point. The point is, he has scored 49 hundreds and that’s equal to Sachin’s record,” the Proteas great concluded.

Kohli is among the leading run-getters in the 2023 World Cup, having notched up 543 runs in eight innings at an average of 108.60 and a strike rate of 88.29.