Virat Kohli continued his brilliant run of form against Australia as he slammed his 40th ODI century in the second game of the five-match series in Nagpur on Tuesday. Thanks to this century, the Indian cricket team skipper came the second cricketer ever to score 40 centuries in this format of the game along with Sachin Tendulkar (49).

Kohli looked completely in control against the Australia bowlers and in the process, was able to score his 18th century in ODIs as skipper. Currently, he is only second to former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting (22).

Kohli paced his innings perfectly on a pitch that was assisting the spinners and although India keep losing wickets at regular intervals, he was able to keep his calm on the other end. He continued playing his natural game and along with Vijay Shankar, he steadied the innings after the hosts lost five wickets.

Virat Kohli has converted each of his last 6 ODI fifties to centuries at home: -

121 vs NZ, Mumbai, 2017

113 vs NZ, Kanpur, 2017

140 vs WIN, Guwahati, 2018

157* vs WIN, Vizag, 2018

107 vs WIN, Pune, 2018

103* vs AUS, Today,2019

This was also Kohli’s seventh century against Australia - an opposition against whom he has enjoyed a brilliant run of form. Currently, that is second highest number of centuries against the Aussies along with Rohit Sharma and the list is topped by the legendary Sachin Tendulkar who scored an impressive nine hundreds.

First Published: Mar 05, 2019 16:41 IST