Former Indian Test opener Sadagopan Ramesh believes it would be a tough task for Virat Kohli to break Sachin Tendulkar’s century records. Tendulkar scored 100 centuries across all formats in his glorious career whereas Kohli has scored 84 hundreds.

Kohli scored a match-winning knock of 93 runs off just 91 balls in the first ODI against New Zealand at the BCA Stadium, Vadodara on Sunday in the run-chase of 301 runs. Thus, the talisman missed his 85th International century by seven runs.

Ramesh said it would be difficult for Kohli to score 16 centuries in next 26 ODI innings and if he had not retired from Test cricket, he would have received more chances.

Sadagopan Ramesh said on YouTube Channel, “To score 16 centuries in 26 innings is still a tough task. If he hadn’t retired from Test cricket, he would have got another 50 to 60 innings. In that case, he would have got the 16 centuries easily. It was a shock to everyone that he retired from Test cricket. That’s why the 16 centuries feel distant now.”

Meanwhile, Kohli has been in rich form in the recent past. The veteran batter scored 350 runs in three games against South Africa at an average of 150 and a strike rate of 117.05.

“Though it was bittersweet that he missed his century after a brilliant 93, one thing is clear – Kohli is in beast mode. Can he reach 100 centuries is the question on everyone’s mind. The way he is batting right now, even if he doesn’t reach that number, he’ll at least come close to it. India have 17 ODIs before the 2027 World Cup, including the remaining two NZ matches. If we assume another nine ODIs in the World Cup until the semifinal, that’s 26 matches,” said Ramesh (via the aforementioned source).

The second ODI between India and New Zealand will be played at Rajkot on Wednesday.