Virat Kohli claims breaking Sachin Tendulkar's 49 ODI tons record will be emotional moment

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New Delhi, May 11: Talismanic India cricketer Virat Kohli is being backed to break cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar's world record of 49 ODI centuries and the modern-day master claims surpassing the landmark will be an emotional moment for him.

Meanwhile, Indian football legend Sunil Chhetri revealed why he thought of quitting football at the age of 17 and joined others to narrate their emotional journey in PUMA's 'Let There Be Sport' documentary series.

In the never-heard-before stories, Indian sporting legends like Chhetri, Kohli, Harmanpreet Kaur, Yuvraj Singh, MC Mary Kom and Avani Lekhara reminisced about their journey.

Kohli, who is just three short of equalling Tendulkar's record of most ODI centuries in the world, when asked about his thoughts on reaching that milestone, quipped, "It will be a very emotional moment for me."

The gripping conversation also includes Kohli talking about his childhood memories of playing cricket with older boys and highlighting the importance of sports.

"Sports teaches you some values of life, discipline and planning. It opens up your side, making you a productive person. No matter which profession you are in, the value of playing sports is immense.

"Don't make them [students] just play sports, teach them. It is important to teach them small details of what it means to play a sport," Kohli added further.

The star India cricketer recalled the incident that took off the pressure of studies from him when his school's vice principal advised him to religiously follow cricket.

Featuring Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MC Mary Kom, Chhetri, Harmanpreet Kaur and para-athlete Avani Lekhara, PUMA's six-part docu-series, in association with Disney+ Hotstar, takes a deep dive into journeys of these six sporting greats and also showcases the role and impact of sports and fitness in their lives.

Harmanpreet also shared an incident where she convinced girls from her school to build a cricket team. "I was the only girl playing cricket in the school. So, I went to every class asking girls if they can play cricket so that I can also get to play.

"That experience taught me a lot of things. Sport teaches you how to handle responsibility and it makes you independent," Harmanpreet - who guided Mumbai Indians to their maiden Women's Premier League (WPL) trophy said.

PUMA's ongoing revolutionary Let There Be Sport movement promotes the integration of sports into the main educational curriculum rather than just an extra activity. In one of the episodes, football star Chhetri could be seen recalling the time he felt quitting the game.

"I still remember we lost one game badly [while playing for Mohun Bagan], we faced a lot of criticism. I called my dad saying this is not for me. I was 17 at that time.

"We used to play in Delhi but had never experienced such madness and when that happened, I was crying in the bathroom and I thought to myself I won't be able to do it [play at such level]. I was physically scared," Chhetri remembered.

"But looking back now, thankfully it happened that time because you understand that this is serious [sport] and incidents like that in sports is why you stay humble," he further added.

The docu-series also showcased legendary Indian all-rounder Yuvraj talking about how a young Indian team added fuel to the India-Australia rivalry with fearless cricket in 2007. The stylish left-handed batter from Punjab made his debut against Australia.

Mary Kom and Avani also shared compelling stories of their journeys, emphasising the need to give sports more prominence and encouraging Indians to engage in sporting activities.