Virat Kohli smashes record-breaking 50th ODI century, surpasses Sachin Tendulkar
Virat Kohli has entered the record books by smashing his 50th century in One-Day Internationals. He touched the three-figure mark during the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup 1st semi-final against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Kohli now has the most centuries in the format, having surpassed the magical mark of Tendulkar (49). He broke a number of other records too.
Most tons in ODI cricket
Before the ongoing WC, Tendulkar was the only player to reach 49 centuries in ODI cricket. He touched this mark on March 16, 2012, as India took on Bangladesh in the Asia Cup. It was the penultimate innings of Tendulkar's ODI career, where he smashed 114, also his 100th international ton. Kohli, who had just 10 ODI tons back then, has finally overtaken him.
Highest individual score in WC semi-finals
Kohli smashed 117 off 113 balls, a knock laced with 9 fours and 2 sixes. The Indian batter now has the highest individual score by a batter in the ODI World Cup semi-finals. Before this, Sourav Ganguly was the only Indian with a century in this regard (111* vs Kenya, 2003). Notably, Shreyas Iyer later joined Kohli and Ganguly with a 105-run knock.
Over 40 centuries in ODIs
Only Kohli and Tendulkar have more than 40 centuries in ODI cricket. Rohit Sharma, the current Indian skipper follows Tendulkar on this list with 31 centuries. Australia's Ricky Ponting is the only other player with the 30-ton mark in the format.
Third-most runs in ODIs
Playing his 291st ODI, Kohli went past Ponting's tally of 13,704 runs in the format. He is now only behind Tendulkar (18,426) and Kumar Sangakkara (14,234) in terms of ODI runs. While Kohli averages 58-plus in the format, none of the other batters with at least 10,000 runs average even 51. Kohli has been ridiculously sensational with his consistency in ODIs.
150 ODI sixes for Kohli
Kohli reached yet another feat as he completed 150 sixes in the ODI format. Rohit (320), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (229), Tendulkar (195), Ganguly (190), and Yuvraj Singh (155) are the only other Indian internationals with over 150 maximums in ODIs. In 2023, Kohli has smashed over 20 sixes in 26 outings. Eight of them have come in a solitary innings.
Eight 50+ scores in a World Cup edition
Kohli has become the first-ever player with more than seven fifty-plus scores in a World Cup edition. The one at Wankhede was his eighth such score. Tendulkar (2003) and Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan (2019) occupy the second spot, with seven fifty-plus scores each in the tournament. Both Rohit and David Warner slammed six fifty-plus scores in the 2019 World Cup.
Joint third-most tons in ODI World Cups
In Mumbai, Kohli slammed his third century of the ongoing World Cup. His other two tons came against Bangladesh (103* in Pune) and South Africa (101* in Kolkata). Kohli now has a total of five tons in ODI World Cups, the joint third-most along with Ponting and Sangakkara. They are behind Tendulkar (six), David Warner (six), and Rohit (seven).
India's Run Machine in limited-overs cricket
Kohli now holds the record for scoring the most runs in a single edition of both ODI and T20 World Cups. He smashed 319 runs in the 2014 T20 World Cup. Meanwhile, Kohli owns the most runs in an IPL edition (973 in 2016).
