Virat Kohli has added yet another feather to his crown of success in cricket. He had already broken Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 centuries in ODIs. On Sunday (30 November), Kohli scored the 52nd century of his ODI career against South Africa — the most centuries by any player in any single format of cricket. Previously, this record was held by Sachin. In Test cricket (red-ball), Sachin has 51 centuries. Kohli surpassed that and moved to the top.
In Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s hometown Ranchi, Kohli played a stunning innings of 135 runs off 120 balls against the Proteas. He decorated his innings with 11 fours and 7 sixes. Thanks to his knock, India posted a massive total of 349 for 8 in the allotted 50 overs.
This was Kohli’s sixth century against South Africa. Sachin and Australia’s David Warner jointly hold the second-highest number of ODI centuries (five each) against the Proteas. Kohli’s total number of centuries across formats has reached 83. He is also nearing another milestone in this 3-match series against South Africa. He began the series 337 runs short of the 28,000-run mark.He significantly reduced that gap. Only Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara have surpassed 28,000 runs in international cricket.
That’s not all. Kohli also overtook Aussie legend Ricky Ponting. Ponting had hit 217 sixes while batting at number three in international cricket. Kohli broke that record by hitting a straight six off South Africa’s Nandre Burger.
