Will Virat Kohli break Sachin Tendulkar's historic feat? Ricky Ponting shares his take

India had a terrible run in the Asia Cup 2022 edition, held in the UAE. After dominating the group stage, the Men in Blue fell flat in the Super Four round with back-to-back defeats -- at the hands of Pakistan and Sri Lanka respectively -- to bow out from the race for the final.

However, the Indian team management and ardent cricket fans of the country breathed a huge sigh of relief with Virat Kohli returning to form. Featuring at the highest level after a break post the England tour, the 33-year-old ended with 276 runs -- second-most in the 2022 edition -- and ended his century drought by slamming his much-awaited 71st international ton.

Kohli slammed a brilliant 61-ball 122 not out, striking at 200, in India's last Super Four clash where they faced Afghanistan in Dubai. Despite it being an inconsequential tie for the seven-time winners, Kohli gave plenty to cheer for the Indian fans with his memorable ton. He moved past Ricky Ponting (70) to now have second-most centuries in international cricket, after Sachin Tendulkar (100).

Add WION as a Preferred Source

While he still far away from surpassing Tendulkar's tally, former Aussie skipper and two-time ODI World Cup-winning captain Ponting isn't ruling out Kohli's chances of breaking the Master Blaster's sensational record."

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," the legendary Australian said in the latest episode of ICC Review Show.

ALSO READ |'Rohit, Kohli & Rahul didn't hit the ground running': Ex-Pakistan cricketer on India's Asia Cup debacle

Ponting, however, feels that even though Kohli has time on his side, it won't be easy for him to slam 30 more centuries at the highest level. "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. That’s five or six Test hundreds a year maybe for the next three or four years. If you throw a couple of one-day ones, maybe the odd T20 ones on top of it," he opined.

"Look, 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," Punter concluded.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.