Colombo

Sri Lankan men's cricket team captain Kusal Mendis has issued a clarification after his comments regarding Indian batter Virat Kohli brought him flak on social media. 

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Addressing Sri Lankan media after a disappointing World Cup campaign, Mendis said he was 'absolutely wrong' to not congratulate Kohli when he reached his 49th ODI century. 

"On that day I went for the press conference and I was not aware that Virat had scored a century. When suddenly that journalist asked that question, I didn’t know what to say. And also I didn’t understand the question clearly," Mendis was quoted as saying by Asian Mirror.

"Scoring 49 ODI tons is not an easy job to do, Virat is one of the brilliant cricketers in the world, later I realised what I said was absolutely wrong. I now feel I shouldn't have reacted the way I did," he added.

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Notably, on the day Kohli scored the record-breaking ton, Mendis was asked in an interview if he would like to congratulate the Indian batter for the feat. However, Mendis, visibly irritated by the randomness of the question replied: "Why I would congratulate him?"

While a section of fans sympathised with Mendis saying he was not obligated to congratulate a rival, others said a simple positive message would not have done any harm to the Sri Lankan captain. 

Kohli's record-equalling century 

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Kohli hit his 49th ODI century at the Eden Gardens against South Africa in the penultimate league match of the World Cup, equalling Sachin Tendulkar's record. After the century, Tendulkar posted a congratulatory message for Kohli and urged him to eclipse the record quickly.

"Well played Virat. It took me 365 days to go from 49 to 50 earlier this year," posted Tendulkar on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Kohli, who was adjudged the Player of the Match for his innings said he felt "honoured" to equal "hero" Tendulkar's record. 

“Tendulkar's tweet is quite special,” Kohli said. "It's all too much to take in for now. It's a huge honour to equal my hero's record. He's perfection with the bat. It's an emotional moment. I know the days I come from, I know the days I have watched him on TV."

Players with most ODI hundreds: 

Virat Kohli - 49 centuries, 278 innings

Sachin Tendulkar - 49 centuries, 452 innings

Rohit Sharma - 31 centuries, 260 innings

Ricky Ponting - 30 centuries, 365 innings

Sanath Jayasuriya - 28 centuries, 433 innings

(With inputs from agencies)