Virat Kohli feels that ODI cricket has provided him with a challenge and has helped the former Indian captain bring out the ‘best’ in him. Ranked fifth in the list of all-time leading run scorers in ODI cricket with 12898 runs in 275 games, he is the second Indian in the illustrious list behind the ‘GOAT’ Sachin Tendulkar.
Virat is also slowly but steadily moving close to Tendulkar’s tally of 49 hundreds with the 36-year-old having scored 46 tons himself, including two earlier this year.
Speaking ahead of the upcoming Asia Cup 2023 and the ODI World Cup at home, Virat Kohli revealed how he feels that the fifty-format tests a batsman completely, and it has given him a challenge that he has embraced, which is why he loves playing ODIs.
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“I love playing ODI cricket. I think for me, ODI cricket is probably the one format that tests your game completely,” Virat Kohli told Star Sports on the show Follow the Blues.
“Your technique, composure, patience, playing the situation, and playing differently in different phases of the game. So, I think it tests you as a batsman completely, and I feel the ODI cricket has always brought the best out of me because I like to embrace that challenge and play according to the situation to help my team win,” the former India captain added.
Virat further stated how the format has allowed him to ‘test’ himself regularly, and it is one of the reasons why he enjoys playing the full hundred overs.
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“I have always tried to do that, so yeah, as I said, it gives me an opportunity to test myself regularly, all aspects of my batting, and that’s why I really enjoy playing ODI cricket,” Kohli stated.
With nine group games during the ODI World Cup and the Asia Cup before that, Kohli will have ample opportunities to go past Sachin’s tally of 49 centuries. Having six centuries in 2023 including two in the ODIs against Sri Lanka earlier this year, Virat Kohli will certainly be hoping to continue his purple patch in the upcoming three months.