India vs Sri Lanka: Virat Kohli hits 46th ODI hundred, breaks Sachin Tendulkar’s home record in Thiruvananthapuram
The hunger is back and so is the consistency as Virat Kohli notched up his 46th ODI hundred in the series finale of a 3-match series against Sri Lanka in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday, January 15.
Kohli got to the landmark in just 85 balls as laid down a marker in the ODI World Cup year. Virat Kohli ended a 3-year drought for an ODI hundred in Bangladesh in December 2022 and has not looked back since. Kohli hit 113 in the first ODI of the 3-match series against Sri Lanka in Guwahati earlier in January. Kohli got out for just 4 in the second ODI, missing a hat-trick of ODI hundreds for the second time in his career.
However, in the series finale, Kohli looked in the zone from the word go after coming into bat following a strong 95-run opening partnership between Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. The former captain hit 9 boundaries and a six as he dominated the Sri Lankan bowling attack. Kohli stitched a 131-run stand with Gill, who scored his 2nd ODI hundred.
Kohli is just 3 hundreds short of equalling legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time ODI record of 49 hundreds. Kohli got to his 46th ODI hundred in just 269 matches in the 50-over format while Tendulkar played 463 innings.
Kohli broke multiple ODI records en route to his 46th ODI hundred. The former captain broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most ODI hundreds at home in international cricket.
Tendulkar had hit 20 hundreds in home conditions in 164 matches while Kohli went past the mark in his 105th ODI at home. Kohli has hit 21 hundreds at home while 25 have come away from home.
MOST ODI HUNDREDS AT HOME
Virat Kohli – 21 in 105 matches
Sachin Tendulkar – 20 in 164 matches
Hashim Amla – 14 in 69 matches
Ricky Ponting – 13 in 153 matches
Ross Talyor – 12 in 110 matches
Virat Kohli also broke the record for most hundreds against a single opposition — a record held by Sachin Tendulkar with 9 ODI tons against Australia.
Kohli scored his 10th ODI hundred against Sri Lanka on Sunday. He has scored 9 ODI hundreds against the West Indies as well.
Kohli’s stunning return to form in the 50-over format of the game augurs well for India in the ODI World Cup year.
While luck favoured him in the 1st ODI after he was dropped on 52 and 81 en route to the 45th ODI hundred, the hundred in Thiruvananthapuram was chanceless as the former captain dominated the Sri Lankan bowling attack.
Kohli has not been picked for the T20I series against New Zealand but the former skipper will be part of the ODI series against New Zealand, starting Wednesday, January 18.