Virat Kohli breaks Sachin Tendulkar's records on and off the cricket pitch

Virat Kohli (left, image by @ICC via Twitter), Sachin Tendulkar (right, image via Moneycontrol)

Indian cricketer Virat Kohli went past Sachin Tendulkar to bring up his 50th ton in One Day Internationals (ODI) by scoring a century in the semi-final of the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023 against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Tendulkar congratulated Kohli and recalled the first day when he met Kohli in the dressing room. He wrote, "The first time I met you in the Indian dressing room, you were pranked by other teammates into touching my feet. I couldn’t stop laughing that day. But soon, you touched my heart with your passion and skill. I am so happy that that young boy has grown into a ‘Virat’ player".

Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Tendulkar said, "I couldn’t be happier that an Indian broke my record. And to do it on the biggest stage - in the World Cup Semi-final - and at my home ground is the icing on the cake."

But this is not the only record of Tendulkar's that Kohli broke.

Kohli also holds the record for the most expensive bat sponsorship of all time. In 2017, he signed a Rs 100 crore bat sponsorship deal with tyre major MRF, which gives him over Rs 12.5 crore annually through the MRF deal.

Before Kohli, the title for the most expensive bat sponsorship in the world was held by Tendulkar whose annual payout from the sponsorship was Rs 8 crore.

Kohli's bat is worth around Rs 27,000, as per reports, and the MRF logo sticker on his bat earns him approx Rs 1 crore every month.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has strict guidelines for bat sponsorships. There are seven spots on the bat, on the front, back, bottom and edges, available to manufacturers and sponsors, as per reports. Out of these four are meant for the manufacturer’s identification and design and only one 10 square inch slot on the bat is for promoting the brand of the player’s sponsor and two spots are reserved for the players’ initials.

Only BCCI approved Logo of a sponsor of a player to be carried on the player’s bat; provided that such Logo shall not be either: A) of, or confusingly similar to, or likely to be perceived as suggesting a connection with: 1). an entity which operates in a product category of any one of the league central sponsors or any of the player’s Franchise Principal Sponsors, or 2). a Manufacturer, other than the Manufacturer of the bat that it is to be carried on; B) a Betting/ real money gaming/ gambling/ cryptocurrency/ tobacco logo, or a direct/surrogate brand promoting any entity having any kind of association or operating/functioning in the non-permissible categories mentioned above, or D) otherwise inappropriate as determined by BCCI in its sole discretion. As per regulations, BCCI shall have the final say in determining whether any such conflict or circumstances exist and no player may pursue any action against BCCI or against his franchise should he be precluded from displaying a Player’s Bat Logo by reason of the same.