Sachin Tendulkar wants Virat Kohli to stay hungry after Edgbaston knock
"He's doing a fantastic job," he said.
His Mount Everest of centuries gradually seems to be scalable by his successor but former India captain Sachin Tendulkar has no qualms about it. Instead, the owner of 100 international centuries has advised the current Indian captain Virat Kohli to maintain his focus and let his “heart guide the way” even after his magnificent century at Edgbaston failed to bring India the much-anticipated victory.
While Kohli and his team prepare to take on England in the second Test of the five-match series at Lord’s from Thursday, the tenure of the game will also see the 28th anniversary of Tendulkar’s first-ever international hundred (119 not out) which he slammed against the home team at Old Trafford to save the day for the visitors.
Speaking to the ESPNcricinfo at the launch of Tendulkar Middlesex Global Academy in North London, the 45-year-old said, “I would say, just continue, he’s doing a fantastic job so just continue. Don’t worry about what’s happening around you, keep your focus on what you want to achieve, and let your heart guide the way.”
“Along the way, there will be plenty of things said and done, but eventually, if you are passionate about what you want in life, then the results will invariably follow.”
He should be proud of his own performance
Sachin Tendulkar also felt that even though the end result at Edgbaston went against India, Kohli deserved to be very proud of his own performance, especially the way he silenced the persisting criticism over his disappointing tour of England in 2014 in the very first Test innings that he played in the current series. Kohli scored 149 and 51 in the two innings of the match while rest of the other batsmen failed to go beyond the score of 31.
India, however, failed to achieve the target of 194 on Day 4 as they were all out for 162 eventually losing the game by 31 runs.
The batting display, nevertheless, catapulted Kohli above former Australian captain Steve Smith to the peak of ICC rankings in Test batting. It is also the first time that Kohli achieved the milestone and as the first Indian batsman since 38-year-old Tendulkar did it in 2011.
The former cricketer also warned against complacency since Kohli attained his much-awaited century on England soil, something that eluded him in the 2014 series.
“I can tell you from my own experience, however many runs you score they are never enough. You want more runs, and that is the case with Virat. However many runs he scores, it will never be enough for him. The downfall starts when you are satisfied. It’s nice to be happy, but never be satisfied when you are a batsman,” Tendulkar said.
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