Not many were fond of Kohli’s ‘attitude’ in early days, says Sachin Tendulkar

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar seemed delighted as India skipper Virat Kohli came one step closer to crossing his record of most number of 100s in ODI cricket on Sunday against New Zealand. Kohli’s knock of 121 runs saw him go past Australia’s Ricky Ponting as he now claims the second spot in all-time ODI centurions list.

He just stays 18 centuries behind Tendulkar, which in all probability would be achieved sooner than later. Tendulkar was all praise for the 28-year-old and revealed that the aggression, which has helped hugely in his career, was not fondly looked upon by many during his early playing days.

Present at the launch of "Democracy's XI? The Great Indian Cricket Story" penned by noted journalist Rajdeep Sardesai at Royal Opera House, Tendulkar said, “His (Kohli's) attitude hasn't changed since he got into the team. I noticed that spark in him which many guys were not fond of and there were many guys who were criticizing him for that. And today that has become the strength of the Indian team.”

“He hasn't changed much but people around him have changed. His attitude has changed only because of his performances and it is extremely crucial for a player to have that freedom to express himself," he added.

India’s current side has been at the peak for some years now. After the rare slip in the ICC Champions Trophy, the side has found a huge wave of youth force taking over with the Men in Blue overcoming every opponent quite easily. The fantastic team effort has been applauded by many in the past few months and Tendulkar joined the bandwagon as well.

He said, “I feel today we have got great balance in the team with a lot of spinners that can bat, a lot of seamers that can bat. We saw what Bhuvneshwar (Kumar) did yesterday, people like him (Bhuvneshwar) and Hardik Pandya are going to change the balance when we start travelling.”