New Delhi Sep 16 (IANS) Former India opener Virender Sehwag on Saturday predicted that skipper Virat Kohli has at least 10 years of cricket left in him and the right-hander can easily overtake batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar s records.
"We never thought that there would be another (Sachin) Tendulkar. But (Virat) Kohli has changed this mindset. I think Virat can surpass Tendulkar s records " Sehwag was quoted as saying by India TV news channel.
"Virat is just 28 years old and he will play at least for 10 more years and I think he will create some mega records and can surpass Tendulkar " he added.
Kohli recently hammered his 30th One-day International (ODI) hundred during the tour of Sri Lanka to equal former Australia captain Ricky Ponting s record. Kohli now ranks below Tendulkar who had scored 49 ODI hundreds during his two-decade-long career.
Recently Kohli had said that it will take "one hell of an effort" to reach anywhere near Tendulkar s world record.
"The great man (Sachin Tendulkar) 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 said during the recent Sri Lanka tour.
The 38-year-old Sehwag also revealed that he would like to change his name to "God" Sachin Tendulkar.
"I would want to change my name to Sachin Tendulkar if I could do it. He has tonnes of records I am not even close to him. He is called as the "God" and who would not want to be a God in this mortal world " he said.
Sehwag who was Tendulkar s opening partner for a long time said he envies the master blaster s records.
Tendulkar who played for India from 1989 to 2013 is arguably the most complete batsman and highest international run-scorer in the history of the game.
Even after his retirement the little master remains a revered figure in India and also around the world and is fondly called as the "God of Cricket" by his millions of fans.
--IANS
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