Virat Kohli record: Team India's former captain Virat Kohli equalled his idol Sachin Tendulkar's all-time record of 49 hundreds in One-Day-Internationals. Virat Kohli now has 49 tons, the joint-most by any batter in ODIs, after having hit a World Cup ton during India vs South Africa top of the table World Cup 2023 match at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Virat attains the mega milestone on his 35th birthday in high-octane 'top of the table' clash.
Talking about the match, India won the toss and elected to bat first against a formidable South Africa who have done really well posting totals and then bowling out the oppositions. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill helped the team off to a brisk start with India scoring 91 off the first 10 overs without losing a wicket. However, once the openers departed and there was a bit of assistance for the spinners, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer initially took their time in the middle before unleashing his range of strokes.
It was a classical knock from Kohli as he only scored 10 boundaries but such was his grit and determination that he still ended with 101* off 121 deliveries. He batted through the innings and got to the 49th ODI hundred mark in his 277th innings, a testimony to the remarkable consistency that he has showed over the years. In contrast, Tendulkar scored as many in 452 innings, to put things into perspective.
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Coming back to the match, apart from Kohli's ton, Shreyas Iyer scored 77 off 87 but Rohit's contribution up the order worth 40 off 24 just cannot be undermined given how it allowed Kohli and Iyer the liberty to see out someone like Keshav Maharaj who was in the middle of a brilliant spell and finished his 10 overs for just 30 runs, with a wicket of Shubman Gilll against his name.
Rohit Sharma is the number two on the list after Tendulakar and Kohli combined with 31 hundreds while Ricky Ponting, the former Australian captain with 30 hundreds is number three. Kohli would now hope that his hundred results in an India win and confirms their top place in the round-robin stage before the semifinals of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023