Virat Kohli was playing his 194th ODI when he scored his 30th ton while Sachin Tendulkar was playing his 274th while getting to that figure.
Virat Kohli scored his 30th ODI century on Sunday as India trounced Sri Lanka and won the series 5-0. With that ton, he got one step closer to a long standing record held by Sachin Tendulkar. His 30th ton took him level with Ricky Ponting for the second most number of centuries scored in ODI cricket, a chart that Tendulkar leads with 49.
It is to be noted that Kohli has thus far played a total of 194 ODIs and maintained an average of 55.75. Sachin Tendulkar’s 30th century came in 2001 against South Africa in Johannesburg after 267 innings. This means it took the Master Blaster 81 more innings to reach the same milestone that Kohli reached 16 years later. Kohli took 186 innings to get to the figure. Tendulkar was also 28 at the time of getting to the milestone, the same as that of Kohli. It is also interesting to note that while India almost walked to victory during Sunday’s match against Sri Lanka, Tendulkar’s century was scored in a losing cause and it was overshadowed by Gary Kirsten’s masterful 133.
This century is also Kohli’s 19th ODI century overseas which takes him level with Sourav Ganguly for the second highest number of centuries scored by Indians away from home. With 29, Tendulkar leads the charts on this front too.
One may say that Kohli has never had to face the likes of Shane Warne, Shoaib Akhtar, Wasim Akram, Glenn McGrath etc. while it is against these bowlers that Tendulkar scored all those centuries. The Indian captain has always been touted as the heir to Tendulkar as India’s premium match winner. As far as stats are concerned, he seems to be getting to Tendulkar’s records at quite a pace.
