Brett Lee backs Kohli to break Tendulkar's record
What's the story
Former Australian fast bowler Brett Lee backed Indian captain Virat Kohli to surpass batting legend Sachin Tendulkar's record of 100 international centuries. Lee feels Kohli can do this if he maintains the level for another seven-eight years. The 31-year-old Kohli has 70 tons and need another 31 to go past Tendulkar. Here's more on the same.
Tendulkar, Kohli
A look at Tendulkar and Kohli's careers
Tendulkar played 200 Tests and amassed 15,921 runs with a best of 248*. He slammed 51 hundreds and 68 fifties. In 463 ODIs, the Indian batting maestro scored 18,426 runs, which included 49 hundreds and 96 fifties. Meanwhile, Kohli has scored 7,240 runs in 86 Tests at 53.62. He has 27 Test tons. In ODIs, Kohli has 11,867 runs, including 43 tons.
Lee's views
Talent, fitness, and mental strength are attributes Kohli carries
"One thing that I would like to eliminate is his talent as a batsman. He definitely got that, so we eliminate that. The second will be his fitness. Kohli has surely had that, because for me it's all about fitness," Lee told Star Sports. "Last would be the mental strength and the capacity to get through the hard games and being away from home."
Words
Lee feels Kohli can go past Tendulkar
Lee said he feels Kohli can get past Tendulkar. "I believe Kohli has all these three components to go past Sachin, but again we are talking about Sachin and how can somebody go past God. So, we just have to wait and watch." The former Aussie pacer added that Kohli could achieve the feat in seven-eight years.
Kohli
Kohli can definitely knock it off, feels Lee
"We are talking about phenomenal numbers here. Give it another seven-eight years of cricket and the way he is going currently, Kohli can definitely knock it off easily," Lee concluded. Tendulkar had a long career and accumulated a host of records. Meanwhile, Kohli has stepped up and has continued to be consistent. He is on the verge of breaking Tendulkar's ODI centuries record.