World Cup 2023: Hope Virat Kohli can shut out noise around his 49th hundred for a few more weeks, says Nasser Hussain

Former England skipper Nasser Hussain feels Virat Kohli should shut out the noise around his 49th ODI century for a few more weeks as the big picture for India is to win the ongoing World Cup. Kohli is one hundred away from matching Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of centuries in the 50-over format.

The talisman scored 88 runs off 94 balls against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Thursday and missed out on his personal milestone after the ball stopped on him. Kohli scored 11 fours in his fine knock and added 189 runs with Shubman Gill, who scored 92 runs.

Earlier in the ongoing ODI showpiece, Kohli scored 85 runs under pressure against Australia and then played another match-winning knock of 95 runs against New Zealand. He scored a fine century against Bangladesh to get his team over the line.

Hussain said the great Sachin Tendulkar felt the pressure of scoring his 100th International century and Virat Kohli should stay away from any kind of pressure.

“Anything I would say about itâ€æ winning the World Cup is the most important thing. He will get the 49, he will get the 50th. He will probably get a 100 international hundreds, he is that good. But the more important thing is winning the World Cup. India must not build it up to be about his 49th,” Nasser Hussain said on Star Sports.

“I remember Sachin had spoken about it, the only time he really felt the enormity of who he was when going from 99 to 100, the person in the room service before he hung up asked him ‘are you going to get your 100th today?.

“He hid himself from the noise, he shut out the noise and the only time he could hear the noise was from 99 to 100.

“So, I just hope that Virat can hide away from that noise, just for a few weeks longer,” he added.

Team India will next take on South Africa at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday.