Virat Kohli hits 31st ODI hundred at Wankhede, only behind Sachin Tendulkar in list of most ODI hundreds

Virat Kohli slammed his 31st ODI hundred at the Wankhede stadium. (Source: Reuters)

Virat Kohli made his 200th ODI appearance an occasion to remember as he notched up his 31st ODI hundred. With this milestone, the Indian skipper sailed past Ricky Ponting’s  tally of 30 centuries and is now second on the list of batsman with most ODI hundreds. Only one man remains ahead of him, legendary Sachin Tendulkar with 49 tons to his name.

In sultry heat of Mumbai at the iconic Wankhede stadium, Kohli became only the second batsman to score a hundred in his 200th ODI (after AB De Villiers). Earlier, Kohli had reached Ponting’s feat in the series against Sri Lanka in September. Behind Ponting is Sri Lankan great Sanath Jayasuriya with 28 hundreds while Hashim Amla is in 5th spot with 26 ODI hundreds.

In his innings of 121 which came off 125 balls, Kohli smashed nine fours and two sixes. What stood out was the way he maneuvered the ball and kept picking the gaps at will. Converting one’s into two’s and two’s into three was the highlight of his gritty innings.

ODI No.200 ✅
Century No. 31 ✅ #Virat200 pic.twitter.com/C1ZmBEKyzD

— BCCI (@BCCI) 22 October 2017

As Kohli now chases Sachin Tendulkar for the most number of hundreds, we take a glance at the numbers that highlight the comparison between the two after 200 one-day internationals. If we take a look at the number of runs, Virat Kohli has notched up a staggering 8888 runs and is way ahead of  Sachin’s 7305 runs (in the same number of matches). In terms of averages as well, while Sachin averaged 41.97 after his first 200 games Kohli stands tall with 55.55.

Whether Kohli will go on to eclipse the records set by the master, is a matter of conjecture and only time will have an answer to all the hypotheticall queries.