Former India captain Virat Kohli slammed his 45th ODI century and overall his 73rd in international cricket on Tuesday (January 10), which second on the trot after scoring a ton in his last ODI against Bangladesh as well. The batter accomplished the landmark during India’s first ODI win over Sri Lanka at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati, with the hosts coming out on top by 65 runs to take a 1-0 in the three-match series.
Virat’s 45th ODI ton is his 20th ODI ton on home soil and he has now equalled the world record of Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar by slamming the most tons in his home country. Both batters have 20 hundreds each at home.
Virat took only 99 to accomplish this while Sachin did so in 160 innings. Other than these two, Hashim Amla of South Africa (14 tons in SA in 69 innings) and Ricky Ponting (14 tons in Australia in 151 innings) also are in the list for most ODI tons in home conditions.
Off the second ball of the 47th over bowled by pacer Kasun Rajitha, Kohli took a single to bring up yet another hundred, completing his back-to-back tons in ODIs. Kohli’s latest century came off 80 balls and comprised 10 boundaries and a six and came at a strike rate of 125.00.
Watch what Virat Kohli has to say after scoring a century in first ODI vs Sri Lanka here…
Player of the Match _ Kohli looks back on his match-winning 45th ODI _ in the 1st Mastercard #INDvSL ODI and the clarity in though that helps him score big!
Watch him LIVE in the 2nd ODI, Jan 12, 12:30 PM onwards on Star Sports & Disney+Hotstar.#FollowTheBlues #BelieveInBlue pic.twitter.com/VXJbBwiI9Q
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) January 10, 2023
Virat was dismissed by Rajitha for 113, which came of 87 balls. Virat also surpassed Tendulkar’s record of most ODI hundreds against Sri Lanka by an Indian batter. He has nine centuries against Sri Lanka, as compared to eight by Sachin against the island nation. Virat also has nine ODI tons against West Indies and eight against Australia.
Among the active players, Virat continues to be the ‘Century King’, with a total of 73 tons. Other players that follow him are David Warner (Australia) – 45, Joe Root (England) – 44, Steve Smith (Australia) – 42, Rohit Sharma (India) – 41.
Virat was the highest scorer in the Indian innings with the team batting after Sri Lanka opted to ball first after winning the toss. On being named Player of the Match, Kohli stated that his preparation and intent has always remained the same irrespective of the format.
“I don’t think there was anything different. My preparation and intent always stay the same and I just kept backing my intent. As I said during the mid-innings break, it was very close to the template I play with. I also understood we needed an extra 25-30 runs,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation.
At a venue where he had scored a century (140 against West Indies) in the previous ODI held four years back, Kohli made a stunning return with another century, thus marking the continuation of his good form in white-ball matches since September 2022, coming after taking a break from the game in July.
“The only thing I learnt was desperation doesn’t get you anywhere. You have to play for the right reasons and almost play every game like your last and just be happy about it. The game is going to move on and I`m happy with my space,” he added.
(with Agency inputs)
