Virat Kohli : It is going to take a hell of an effort to reach the level of Ricky Ponting

And now even though the world goes ga-ga over the record and some have even gone as far as calling Kohli the greatest limited-overs run accumulator of all-time, the India skipper doesn’t believe basking in the glory of individual achievements. In fact, Kohli shunned his comparisons with Ponting and Tendulkar calling them the legends of the game. 

“These things keep happening as you go along in your career. You don’t target these things, but yeah, those stat windows are hard to neglect because they pop up everywhere after you’ve achieved something. It’s an honour for me to pass… or equal someone like Ricky Ponting. That’s not something that you aim for but obviously, he’s a great player and as batsmen, we all respect what these legends have done. It feels like to equal one, but as you said the great man is quite a bit away. That’s going to take a hell of an effort. Again, I am not thinking about that. It’s only about the team where even if I score a 90 not out and the team goes across the line, it’s good enough for me,” Kohli was quoted as saying by Cricketnext.

Talking about his performance, the Indian skipper said, “Jasprit, obviously, he has been our most effective short-format bowler in the last 18 months. He has really worked on his bowling, especially his length ball has picked up more pace. That's very heartening to see because it never lets the batsmen get settled. It’s not only about yorkers and slower balls anymore. He can bowl a good length ball and nick you off as well, which I think is the biggest improvement in his bowling. Getting a Man of the Series award in the subcontinent as a fast bowler, it’s always a great thing to achieve. He bowled in really good areas and he deserves to be the Man of the Series. I hope he can continue the same way against Australia.”