Virat Kohli slams 73’rd international 100; registers his 1st ODI ton of year against Sri Lanka [WATCH]
India finished at a gargantuan 373 with a loss of seven wickets after Sri Lanka won the toss and invited the hosts to bat first in the ODI series opener in Guwahati. The decision has gone all wrong for the Lankans as the ‘Men in Blue’ have managed to break the bowling attack and score 373.
Virat Kohli batted brilliantly, scoring 113 runs in just 97 balls. It was the star cricketer’s 45th ODI 100 and 73rd in international cricket.
With this ODI ton Virat has equalled legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 20 ODI 100 at home ground. Interestingly, Sachin took 164 matches to reach the milestone but, Kohli did it in just 101 ODI matches.
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Back to back ODI hundreds for @imVkohli 👏👏
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 10, 2023
Live - https://t.co/MB6gfx9iRy #INDvSL @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/Crmm45NLNq
Not only this, Virat also surpassed the mast blaster’s record of most centuries against Lankans in ODI matches. Tendulkar has eight centuries against Sri Lanka while Kohli has nine.
The former Indian skipper ended his ODI century drought during the Bangladesh tour. He remained centuryless for 1,214 days.
𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐘 𝐍𝐎.𝟕𝟑 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐕𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐓 𝐊𝐎𝐇𝐋𝐈 🫡🫡
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 10, 2023
A brilliant hundred from @imVkohli as he brings up his 45th ODI ton.
Live - https://t.co/262rcUdafb #INDvSL @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/n1Kc9BCBwO
Now, Kohli is all set to break Tendulkar’s next record of most hundreds in the ODI format, he’s just five ODI away. The legendary batter has scored 49 ODI tons in his cricketing career and Kohli has 45 ODI 100s in his bucket.
Interestingly, Virat Kohli can make his new record as India has a packed ODI schedule with 15 matches 9excluding the Asia Cup) in 10 months in the build-up to the World Cup in October-November.
The former Indian skipper can break another milestone as he just needs 180 runs to enter the top 5 all-time run-getters in ODIs. Kohli is only behind Tendulkar, Sangakkara, Ponting, Jayasuriya, and Jayawardene in the elite list.
First published: 10 January 2023, 18:36 IST