Watch: Virat Kohli Bows Down to Sachin Tendulkar After Hitting 50th ODI Ton, Master Blaster Gives Standing Ovation

Virat Kohli paid a heartfelt tribute to his hero ‘Sachin Tendulkar’ after hitting his 50th ODI century at the Wankhede Stadium at the World Cup 2023 semifinal against New Zealand on Wednesday. Kohli bowed down to Tendulkar who was seated in the stands, but stood up and gave a standing ovation to Virat after the 35-year-old completed his historic half-century of hundreds in ODI format.

Kohli was battling cramps as he approached his 50th ODI hundred, there were a few moments where the Indian fans almost had their hearts in their mouths as the talismanic batter hobbled, but as soon as he crossed the three-figure mark he jumped high in the air.

Virat took his helmet off, and his wife Anushka Sharma was jubilant, blowing flying kisses to Kohli but the first reaction from the former Indian captain was to bow down to Sachin Tendulkar. Speaking at the mid-innings break, Virat Kohli revealed that it was the stuff of dreams, a landmark achievement from him and he was struggling to describe it in words.

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The great man broke into applause as soon as he saw his apprentice surpass his record of 49 ODI hundreds.

Watch Virat Kohli bows down to Sachin Tendulkar after smashing 50th ODI century:

After Virat Kohli smashed his century, Shreyas Iyer got a hundred to his name as well and India put 397/4 on the board giving the New Zealand players a target of 398 runs to make it a third consecutive World Cup final.

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma had earlier missed a fifty, but he set the stage for Shubman Gill and Kohli. Shubman smashed a half-century but had to walk off the field after picking up a niggle however, Kohli and Shreyas Iyer then took up the burden of scoring runs for fun.

The pair smashed their centuries, after which KL Rahul put the finishing touches on India’s total, the Men in Blue broke multiple records along the way and it was truly a historic day at the Wankhede.