Virat Kohli’s 52nd ODI Hundred in Ranchi hasn’t just rewritten a record list; it has more or less settled a long-running argument.
On the mid-innings show of the first ODI against South Africa, Sunil Gavaskar all but closed the debate on who stands alone in one-day cricket.
Speaking moments after Kohli went past Sachin Tendulkar’s long-standing mark of 51 ODI hundreds, Gavaskar framed the milestone not as a marginal edge, but as a lead into another realm altogether.
Gavaskar has no doubts about the Greatest
“I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,” Gavaskar said on air. “I mean, it’s not just me, I think those who have played with him and against him, they all agree that he is the greatest in the one-day format. Look, you score 52 hundreds, that actually sets you up right up there in the stratosphere, so to speak.”
Sunil Gavaskar linked three pillars of Kohli’s case: respect from peers, the sheer volume of runs, and the weight of 52 hundred in a format that is increasingly squeezed between T20s and Tests. Coming from a batter who defined an era himself, the endorsement carried more than just nostalgia.
Gavaskar then brought in an external, neutral witness to underline the point – former Australian captain, Ricky Ponting. “I just heard that Ricky Ponting said that he’s the best that he’s seen in one-day cricket,” Gavaskar revealed. “So, I mean, when somebody, an Australian captain…they will agree that it is rare, very rare to get praise from an Australian. Very, very difficult. So, if an Australian says that, you know, he was the best, then I don’t think there is any argument for that.”
For Gavaskar, Ponting’s reported verdict effectively shuts down the remaining pockets of resistance in the GOAT debate. If a World Cup-winning Australian captain calls Kohli the best he has seen, the usual country-bias argument no longer applies.
At the same time, Gavaskar made sure Tendulkar’s place in the story wasn’t diminished, only contextualised. “Sachin has been absolutely right up there with 51 Hundreds. But when you pass the great Sachin Tendulkar, then you know where you stand.”
The last line summed up the moment in Ranchi. Kohli’s 135 off 120 balls was a match-defining innings; his 52nd ODI century, in Gavaskar’s eyes, legacy-defining one.