'I shouldn't have...': Sri Lanka's skipper on his reaction to Virat Kohli's record-breaking hundred

Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis clarified on his reaction to a question from a journalist about Virat Kohli's record-equalling hundred. The Lankan skipper had faced flak on social media when a journalist asked him if he would like to congratulate Indian cricket superstar Virat Kohli on his 49th century. Mendis had responded: "Why would I congratulate him?"

"I now feel I shouldn't have reacted the way I did," clarified Mendis, according to a report published in Asian Mirror.

"On that day I went for the press conference and I was not aware that Virat had scored a century, When suddenly that journalist asked that question, I didn’t know what to say, And also I didn’t understand the question clearly," he said.


"Scoring 49 ODI tons is not an easy job to do, Virat is one of the brilliant cricketers in the world, later I realized what I said was absolutely wrong," the Sri Lankan skipper clarified.

Mendis also tendered an apology to Sri Lankan fans for the team's disappointing World Cup performance. The Lankans finished in the 9th position in the 10-nation ICC cricket World Cup 2023, winning two and losing nine of the league matches. With the bat, Mendis scored 294 runs in 9 matches at an average of 32.

Kohli is now the highest run scorer in the World Cup after the league matches. He has amassed 594 runs, surpassing South African Quinton de Kock's 591 runs after he scored 51 against Netherlands on Sunday. The former India skipper slammed his 71st ODI half-century in 53 balls, with five fours and one six.

Tendulkar's congratulations for Virat Kohli

Sachin Tendulkar has posted a special message for Virat Kohli on social media platform X after Kohli had equalled the legend's 49th century in ODIs during the league match against South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. "Well played Virat. It took me 365 days to go from 49 to 50 earlier this year. I hope you go from 49 to 50 and break my record in the next few days. Congratulations!," Tendulkar had tweeted.