Calcutta: Virat Kohli, the batsman, seems unstoppable at the moment and many feel that he will go on to break many records, including Sachin Tendulkar's unparalleled mark of 100 international hundreds.

Will Virat really be able to climb that peak in the future? That question was posed to former India captain Gundappa Viswanath on Sunday. The legend was in the city as the chief guest of an invitational U-14 cricket tournament, organised by Garia Mitali Sangha. Former Bengal captain Gopal Bose was also felicitated on the occasion.

"People are talking about that because of his consistent performances and because he is getting hundreds every now and then. It's a tall order and records are meant to be broken. I think Sachin will be happy if he breaks that record. But it's still a long way to go," said the 69-year old.

Viswanath, however, had high praise for Virat. "Everyone knows what he is doing, it's absolutely brilliant. His consistency is amazing, the hunger for runs... and the aggression. I hope he continues in the same vein. And his confidence is having a positive effect on his team as well, they are also doing well," he said.

"India will play mostly away now, the confidence the players are showing augurs very well for the team," he added. Not just Virat the batsman, as a captain too he has made quite an impact. Where would Viswanath rank him among the Indian captains?

"I don't want to compare, but certainly the results are showing. We came close to beating South Africa in the first Test. We did not win the series but we came back strongly to win the last Test. I have confidence in this team to do well when they travel abroad as well," Viswanath said.

India's bowling attack have been very impressive in South Africa and Viswanath agreed. "The new-ball bowlers in the Test matches showed consistent performance and utilised the conditions very well. At times, they were better than South Africans," he said.

With wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal doing well, is the door shut on Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the limited overs format?

"I would not say that... It's a very healthy competition. Ashwin has done tremendously well, and so has Jadeja. So you can't rule them out. At the same time, the two young spinners picking up more than 30 wickets between them is absolutely brilliant. Wrist spinners always come in good as they can turn the ball on any wicket. Kuldeep is showing amazing consistency. "

Asked about Mahendra Singh Dhoni and how relevant will he be in the 2019 World Cup, Viswanath said: "The way it's going, they need Dhoni. The selectors and the team management would want to have Dhoni till the World Cup at least."