50TH INTERNATIONAL TON KOHLI

KOLKATA: Fifty international hundreds might seem staggering for a 29-year-old but India captain Virat Kohli feels that it hasn’t been that long a journey as the figures might suggest.

Kohli’s status in world cricket grew further when he smashed his 18th Test hundred and 50th international ton on the final day of the first Test against Sri Lanka today, but the skipper said that records are just numbers for him.

“It (50 international hundreds) feels good. It hasn’t been a long journey yet,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony after the first Test between India and Sri Lanka ended in a draw.

“If I can step up and perform, that will give me more pleasure than thinking of the number of hundreds I have. That will remain the mindset till I play this game,” he added.

He scored 104 as India declared their second innings at 352 for eight, which left Sri Lanka with an improbable 231 to chase in little over a session.

The target was out of reach but the Indian bowlers went full throttle, raising a hope of a victory by reducing Sri Lanka to 75 for seven before umpires called off the play due to deteriorating light.

Asked about India’s mindset going into the final session, Kohli said he was pleased with the character shown by his team to make the match interesting despite losing considerable amount of play due to rain.

“It was important to make something out of the game with whatever time we had. Conditions changed drastically over the five days. We had to show character, having been on the backfoot on day one and day two,” he said.