On Sunday, January 15 in Thiruvananthapuram, against Sri Lanka, Virat Kohli scored his 46th one-day international (ODI) hundred, proving that his desire and consistency had returned.Virat reached the record in just 85 balls, putting down a marker in an ODI World Cup year.
After a three-year dry spell without a one-day international (ODI) century, Virat Kohli finally scored a hundred in Bangladesh in December 2022. In the first one-day international in a three-game series against Sri Lanka in Guwahati at the beginning of January, Kohli scored 113. For the second time in his career, Virat failed to complete a hat-trick of ODI hundreds after being dismissed for just 4 in the second ODI of the series in Kolkata.
After Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill put up a solid opening stand of 95 runs, Virat seemed focused and in the zone from the first ball of the last game. The former skipper crushed the Sri Lankan bowlers for nine fours and a six. Kohli and Gill put up 131 runs together, with Gill achieving his second ODI century.
Only three hundred separate Kohli from the all-time ODI record held by the great Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli just needed 269 50-over matches to get his 46th ODI century, whereas Tendulkar needed 463.
On his way to his 46th One-Day International century, Virat shattered many records. The former skipper did better than Sachin Tendulkar in terms of home ODI hundreds. Tendulkar recorded 20 hundred in 164 matches played on home soil, while Kohli reached the milestone in his 105th one-day international match played in India. At home, Kohli has scored 21 hundred while he has made 25 hundred on the road.
In addition, Virat Kohli surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 9 ODI hundreds against Australia, which Kohli had previously held.
On Sunday, Kohli made his 10th ODI century against Sri Lanka. And against the West Indies, he has hit nine hundred in one-day internationals.
The fact that Kohli has shown such remarkable form in the 50-over format bodes well for India in the next ODI World Cup. After being dropped on 52 and 81 on his way to his 45th ODI hundred, luck was on his side in the first match, but the former captain’s hundred in Thiruvananthapuram was completely chanceless.
For the Twenty20 International series against New Zealand, Kohli was left off the roster, although he will play in the ODIs beginning on January 18.
The former India opener, Gautam Gambhir said “The six hitting ability of Kohli was just ‘Wow’ today”.
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