Virat Kohli breaks flurry of records with 47th ODI century
Indian Run Machine Virat Kohli has smashed his 47th century in One Day Internationals. He reached the mark on the reserve day of the Asia Cup 2023 Super Four encounter against Pakistan in Colombo. Kohli now requires only two centuries to equal Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar's record (49). During the match, the former also became the fastest batter to 13,000 ODI runs.
Another terrific knock from Kohli
Kohli came to the middle after India lost skipper Rohit Sharma, who shared a 121-run opening stand with Shubman Gill. The Indian top-order batter started his knock cautiously but accelerated after reaching the 50-run mark on the reserve day. Kohli played second fiddle as his batting partner Rahul counter-attacked. The former reached his century off 84 balls in the 48th over.
Tons in last four ODIs in Colombo
Kohli now has centuries in his last four ODI innings at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. His scores read 128*(119), 131(96), 110*(116), and 122*(94). The Indian batter averages an astronomical 128.20 on this ground in the format. He has scored 641 runs from nine matches at a strike rate of 99.84 in this regard. The tally includes a half-century as well.
Joint-most consecutive ODI tons on a ground
Kohli now has the joint-most consecutive centuries in ODI cricket on a single ground (four). He has joined South African legend Hashim Amla in this regard. He slammed four ODI tons in Centurion.
Joint second-most ODI Asia Cup tons
Kohli slammed an unbeaten 122 off 94 balls, a knock laced with 9 fours and 3 sixes. He now has the joint second-most centuries in the ODI Asia Cup (four), with Kumar Sangakkara. Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya tops this list (six).
Kohli completes 1,000 international runs in 2023
After scoring a century, Kohli completed 1,000 runs in international cricket in 2023. He has scored 1,110 runs from 20 internationals at an incredible average of 58.42 this year so far. He touched the 1,000-run mark across formats in a year for the 12th time, having broken a tie with Mahendra Singh Dhoni (11). Only Sachin Tendulkar (16) is ahead of Kohli among Indians.
Fastest to 13,000 ODI runs
As mentioned, Kohli is now the fastest to 13,000 runs in ODI cricket. Tendulkar previously held this record, having achieved this mark in 321 innings. Kohli has broken Tendulkar's record by taking just 267 innings for scoring 13,000 ODI runs. This means Kohli is now the only player to reach this landmark in less than 300 innings.
A look at his incredible numbers
Kohli is the fifth-highest run-scorer in ODI cricket, having slammed 13,024 runs from 278 matches. His average of 57.62 is the best among batters with at least 5,500 runs. His tally of 47 ODI tons is only second to Tendulkar (49). Kohli also owns 65 half-centuries in ODI cricket. The former's 183 versus Pakistan in 2012 remains his best score in the 50-over format.
