'Something You Dream As A Child': Virat Kohli On Equalling Sachin Tendulkar's ODI Ton Record

India's Virat Kohli equalled Sachin Tendulkar's record of 49 one-day international hundreds when he reached three figures in a World Cup pool match against fellow semi-finalists South Africa on Sunday. Kohli, on his 35th birthday, got to the landmark in 119 balls, including 10 fours, at Kolkata's Eden Gardens. It had taken him 277 innings to score 49 hundreds at this level compared to the 438 required by fellow India 2011 World Cup-winner Tendulkar.

"Every opportunity to play for India is a big one, to be able to ton up on my birthday is a stuff of dreams," said Kohli whose century added to his ongoing total of over 26,000 international runs.

Kohli's 101 not out was the centrepiece of unbeaten tournament hosts India's 326-5 in their 50 overs.

"It is something you dream about as a child. I am just happy to help the team as much as possible," added Kohli.

Together with Shreyas Iyer (77) he shared a third-wicket partnership of 134 after India captain Rohit Sharma had won the toss on what turned out to be a tricky pitch.

"It was a wicket that was tricky to bat on. We got a great start. My job was to keep the momentum going when I got in," added Kohli.

'Bat deep'

"But after ten overs, the ball started gripping and the wicket started slowing down. My role was to bat deep and till the end after the openers fell."

He added: "Shreyas starting hitting well as well. We were not thinking we would get to 326 but that's what happens when you dig deep and take the game into the last few overs."

Tendulkar led the tributes to Kohli, the retired India great writing on X, formerly Twitter: "Well played Virat. It took me 365 days to go from 49 to 50 (in age) earlier this year. I hope you go from 49 to 50 and break my record in the next