"He is not known by his name but by his deeds" - Imran Tahir on Virat Kohli equaling Sachin Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI centuries

Imran Tahir has lauded Virat Kohli for equaling Sachin Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI centuries and for letting his bat do the talking.

Kohli scored an unbeaten 101 off 121 deliveries as India set South Africa a 327-run target in Kolkata on Sunday, November 5. The Men in Blue then bowled out the Proteas for a paltry 83 to complete a resounding 243-run win.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Tahir was asked about Kohli equaling Tendulkar's record, to which he replied:

"He is not known by his name but by his deeds. I would want to congratulate him for what he has achieved today because he has equaled the record of an extremely great player - Sachin Tendulkar. I believe there cannot be a bigger role model than him for the Indian young generation."

The former South Africa leg-spinner was further asked about Kohli's century coming in testing conditions, to which he responded:

"The South African team had been doing very well, so he made this score against a very good team, and the situation in which he did it was quite difficult, where he got stuck a little but played patiently. You can see the reward for that as they ended up at 326."

Tahir pointed out that the specialty of the Indian team is that they have an excellent mixture of experience and youth who deliver the goods whenever they get stuck. However, he added that it was a special day for Virat Kohli.

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"You can talk about passion, determination and hunger but you cannot instill these things in anyone" - Imran Tahir on Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli scored his fifth ODI century against South Africa. [P/C: AP]

Imran Tahir was also asked about the discussions in the opposition dressing rooms about Virat Kohli. He replied:

"You can talk about passion, determination and hunger but you cannot instill these things in anyone. They need to come from within. I believe this player has that and that is why he is so consistent."

The cricketer-turned-commentator praised Kohli's quest to single-handedly deliver for the team. He elaborated:

"I have seen a lot of players saying that they are consistent but whenever he (Kohli) comes, he scores hundreds or fifties. It means whenever he comes to the ground he has a feeling that he needs to do something on his own and not depend on the others."

Kohli's 101-run knock was studded with 10 fours. He added 134 runs for the third wicket with Shreyas Iyer (77 off 87) after Rohit Sharma, in particular, and Shubman Gill had given the team a flying start.