"It's A Big Deal": Former Royal Challengers Bangalore Teammate Backs Virat Kohli To Surpass Sachin Tendulkar's Massive Record

Netherlands spinner Roelof van der Merwe was all praise for the Indian cricket team star Virat Kohli and he believes that the right-hander will be able to able to surpass Sachin Tendulkar's record of scoring 100 international centuries. Merwe, who played alongside Kohli for Indian Premier League (IPL) side Royal Challengers Bangalore, said that the Indian batsman surely has the record at the back of his mind and he thinks that it is something that motivates Kohli to do even better.

“Obviously, Virat's a great player and yes, I do think he can do that. Hundred centuries will be at the back of his mind. In India, following somebody like Sachin (Tendulkar) it's a big deal. He will be motivated to keep going," said van der Merwe at a recent media interaction.

Van der Merwe took part in the T20 World Cup 2022 with the Netherlands cricket team and he is currently the highest wicket-taker in the SA20 league for Sunrisers Eastern Cape. The spinner has taken 14 wickets till now to guide his franchise to the second spot with two games to go.

Kohli has scored 46 ODI centuries till now with the last one coming against Sri Lanka and that puts him just three behind Sachin Tendulkar who has 49 ODI tons. When it comes to Test cricket, Sachin has an impressive 51 centuries while Kohli has 27. However, he will have a good chance to adding more tons to his already illustrious career when India host Australia for a four-match Test series.

When asked about the player he would like to play alongside in SAT20, the veteran spinner picked Suryakumar Yadav and praised him for his impressive form in T20 cricket.

 “At the moment, you've got to go with SKY, the way he is hitting the ball, it's got to be him at the moment," he concluded.

Topics mentioned in this article

Virat Kohli Sachin Tendulkar Roelof van der Merwe Cricket