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Former cricketer Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday day described India batter Virat Kohli's record-making 50th ODI ton as "phenomenal" and said that beating this record will be a tough task as the star player is still playing really well.
India's star batter Kohli became the first player in the history of ODI cricket to score 50 centuries. Kohli reached the milestone during India's ongoing World Cup semifinal against New Zealand at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. He reached this landmark in the 42nd over off the bowling of Lockie Ferguson. In doing so India's batting talisman also became the first player to score 50 ODI centuries - surpassing 'Masterbalster' Sachin Tendulkar's 49 hundreds. "Outstanding innings. 50 hundreds is phenomenal. It will take a lot of effort to beat this and he is not finished yet. India is playing really well. We will take one step at a time. We will win the Semi-Finals and then look for the Finals. Everyone is playing well. It is a complete side..." Ganguly told reporters in Kolkata. Carrying forward the blazing start given by the openers -- skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill --, Kohli brought up his 50th ODI ton of 106 balls with 8 four and 1 six. He later opened out before eventually falling for 117 off 113 balls. His knock was punctuated with nine fours and two sixes. Kohli scored his runs at a strike rate of over 103 before being eventually sent back by Tim Southee. Now, Kohli has a total of 50 ODI centuries in 291 ODIs. He has overtaken his childhood idol Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 49 ODI centuries in his decorated career. After a blistering start from the openers, India's relentless number three helped the team put together a first-innings score of 397/4 in the ICC World Cup semifinal against New Zealand. (ANI)
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