Sports


Kohli storms into Tendulkar territory, rewrites records with 55th ODI ton

Thiruvananthapuram, Sept 27 (UNI) Virat Kohli turned the Greenfield International Stadium into a theatre of records on Sunday, reaching 15,000 ODI runs, smashing his 55th century in the format and drawing level with Sachin Tendulkar for the most hundreds in List A cricket during a remarkable innings against the West Indies.
There was poetry in the way Kohli reached the latest landmark.
Facing Gudakesh Motie in the 40th over, Kohli danced down the track to a flighted delivery, reached the pitch and lofted it handsomely over long-on for six. The Greenfield erupted. Kohli removed his helmet, raised his bat and stood still for a moment as the crowd celebrated another entry into the record books.
The century came from just 74 balls, making it the third-fastest ODI hundred of Kohli's career. Only his 52-ball hundred against Australia in Jaipur in 2013 and 61-ball century against Australia in Nagpur that year came quicker.
His 74-ball effort in Thiruvananthapuram sits ahead of his 76-ball hundreds against Sri Lanka in Hobart in 2012 and Colombo in 2017, and his 80-ball century against Sri Lanka in Guwahati in 2023.
But the century was merely the latest jewel in a day already glittering with milestones.
Earlier, Kohli became only the second batter after Tendulkar to cross 15,000 ODI runs. He reached the mark with a boundary off Alzarri Joseph, prompting the Thiruvananthapuram crowd to rise and applaud as he raised both arms in acknowledgement.
The manner in which Kohli reached 15,000 also gave the milestone another statistical twist. He got there in his 303rd ODI innings and after facing 15,950 balls, whereas Tendulkar needed 377 innings and 17,528 balls.
Kohli therefore reached the mark in 74 fewer innings and after facing 1,578 fewer deliveries than Tendulkar.
Tendulkar, however, was younger when he got there. He reached 15,000 ODI runs at 34 years and 66 days, while Kohli achieved the feat at 37 years and 326 days. From their respective ODI debuts, Tendulkar took 6,402 days to reach the mark against Kohli's 6,614.
The 55th ODI hundred also carried another distinction. It was Kohli's 10th century against the West Indies, putting him level with his own tally of 10 hundreds against Sri Lanka for the most ODI centuries by a batter against one opponent.
His 10th ODI century against Sri Lanka, incidentally, had also come in Thiruvananthapuram.
And then came the broader List A record.
Kohli's century was his 60th in List A cricket, taking him level with Tendulkar for the most hundreds in the format. But the route to 60 has been dramatically shorter for Kohli: 338 innings against Tendulkar's 538.
Graham Gooch follows with 44 List A centuries in 601 innings, while Graeme Hick has 40 in 630 and Kumar Sangakkara 39 in 501.
At 271 for two after 40 overs, India were firmly in command of the chase, with Kohli continuing to make the difficult art of run-making look deceptively simple.
On a single afternoon, the numbers piled up: 15,000 ODI runs, 55 ODI centuries, 10 hundreds against the West Indies, a 74-ball hundred and 60 List A tons.
Tendulkar still holds the ODI run-scoring record with 18,426 runs.
But at the Greenfield on Sunday, Kohli was not merely chasing the numbers left behind by his predecessor. He was carving out a statistical territory of his own.
UNI BDN
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