Virat Kohli needs 2016 magic to break Sachin Tendulkar's world record, claims Monty Panesar

There’s been much talk about Virat Kohli’s chances of surpassing the seemingly unbreakable record of 100 international centuries set by the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. However, Kohli has yet again found himself struggling with the bat, and due to this achieving the feat seems slightly impossible for him.

However, the former England spinner Monty Panesar remains hopeful that Kohli can break this monumental milestone. Kohli has shown glimpses of brilliance ever since he regained his form following his long struggle, but can he rediscover his old magic to achieve this feat? It is still a question mark after his latest failure in the Test series against Bangladesh.

Can Virat Kohli still break Sachin Tendulkar's 100-century record?

In 2016, the dashing right-hander dominated the cricketing world, amassing over 2,500 runs across all formats of the game with ease. Virat Kohli's performances in Tests were jaw-dropping, with three double-centuries to his name that year alone.

Kohli’s exploits continued in the IPL 2016, as he piled up 973 runs, setting a record for most runs in a single season that is still unbroken. However, after 2019, the runs dried up, and the centuries suddenly disappeared from Kohli’s bat.

Even he could not score a ton for three years during his lean patch, leaving many to question whether his legendary career had started its decline. However, the former Indian captain returned to his form in 2022, with a much-needed century against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup.

However, Kohli has added a few more hundreds to his tally since that breakthrough, but that old spark hasn’t fully returned, especially in Test cricket. With 80 centuries to his name, Kohli remains a considerable distance away from Tendulkar’s iconic 100 centuries in international cricket.

Monty Panesar hopeful Virat Kohli can rediscover 2016 magic and break Sachin Tendulkar's legendary record

For years, many believed that the aggressive Virat Kohli would surpass the Master Blaster’s world record with ease, but the recent slump has made the journey far more daunting.

While Kohli has already retired from T20Is and may play ODIs for a few years more, his primary focus will be on red-ball cricket, where he must rediscover his prime form to achieve that milestone.

Well, Panesar said that Kohli still has a great chance to break Tendulkar’s iconic record of 100 international centuries, but he must come back to the form that he was in 2016. The Englishman reckoned that the Indian batting maestro just needs to find the needed motivation again to shine.

Virat Kohli needs motivation: Panesar

Monty Panesar was quoted as saying by CricTracker: “There’s a possibility of that as well. He was in his best form in 2016. He needs to come back to that zone. Sometimes it’s also about the motivation. He might think, Why am I working so hard at this point? We can say only Sachin Paaji was so motivated all the time. He still motivates young cricketers.”

However, the former spinner backed the England batter Joe Root to overtake Tendulkar to become the batter with the most Test runs in the world. Root needs 3519 runs to break Tendulkar's feat, and Panesar feels Root would leapfrog Tendulkar certainly in Test cricket.