King of Centuries Virat Kohli On Course To Record 30 More ODI Hundreds Than Sachin Tendulkar

Kohli has registered a total of 70 international hundreds in his career spanning 13 years from 2008 to 2021. He is third just one short of Ricky Ponting’s 71 and 30 shy of the Little Master Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 100 hundreds. Kumar Sangakkara follows with 63 and Jacques Kallis with 62 completes the top 5. But what really stands out is Kohli’s mind-boggling frequency of registering a ton.Amongst the 43 batsmen who have recorded at least 30 international hundreds, in terms of frequency of scoring a hundred, Kohli is perched at the top getting to a triple-figure score once every 6.89 innings. He has left contemporary greats like Steven Smith and all-time legends like Sachin Tendulkar behind on this count. Smith registers an international hundred once every 7.61 innings while Tendulkar achieved the feat every 7.82 innings. Warner also features at number 5 scoring a hundred once every 8.51 innings.

Amongst some other great names, Ricky Ponting is at number 8 with a hundred every 9.41 innings while Kane Williamson follows with a century every 9.54 innings. The limited-overs’ run-making machine Rohit Sharma completes the top 10 with a ton every 9.68 innings. The great Brian Lara scored a hundred once every 9.83 innings, Joe Root and Viv Richards once every 9.97 innings while AB de Villiers once every 10.3 innings to name some other all-time legendary batsmen.

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KOHLI’S STAGGERING FREQUENCY IN ODI CRICKET

While Kohli has outstanding numbers in Test cricket, it is in the ODI format where he dominates every one – past and present and has placed himself in a league of his own. The Indian captain has recorded 43 hundreds in ODI cricket in just 245 innings. His frequency of scoring a century is the best in the history of the format with number two Hashim Amla taking 6.59 innings to score a ton. Warner is at number three with a century every 7 ODIs while Rohit Sharma is at number 5 reaching a three-digit score every 7.59 innings. AB de Villiers (8.72 innings), Joe Root (8.75 innings) and Tendulkar (9.22 innings) complete the top 10.

Just to give a perspective of what Kohli has achieved in the format and what a phenomenal run-making machine he has been for India in ODI cricket, the Indian captain has played 207 less innings than Tendulkar but scored just 6 less centuries!

If Kohli continued to maintain the same tempo of piling on the hundreds and gets to the same number of matches as Tendulkar he would have scored as many as 79 ODI hundred by the time – that is a sensational 30 more than Tendulkar registered in his career!

KOHLI’S 50-100 CONVERSION RATE 4TH BEST IN INTERNATIONAL HISTORY

Kohli also has an excellent 50 to 100 conversion rate in international cricket. He has registered 115 fifties to go along with his 70 hundreds in international cricket. This means that Kohli scores a century every 2.64 times he registers a fifty in international cricket. Steven Smith is at pole position on this count due to his staggering numbers in Test cricket. Overall, he reaches a triple-digit score every 2.58 innings he records a fifty. Hashim Amla is at number two with 2.6 and Tendulkar is at number 3 just decimal points ahead of Kohli. Interestingly, Warner completes the top five scoring a century once every 2.65 innings he registers a fifty.

KOHLI AHEAD OF TENDULKAR AFTER 482 INNINGS

The great Tendulkar had aggregated 21331 runs with 66 hundreds after 482 international innings at an average of 49.03 – the same number played by Kohli in his career.

This means that Kohli has a lead of 4 hundreds over Tendulkar at similar junctures in their career. Kohli has scored 22818 runs in 482 innings at an average of 55.78 with 70 international hundreds so far.

Kohli scored 11 international hundreds each in 2017 and 2018 – the maximum in a calendar year in his glorious career. The record is still held by Tendulkar who scored 12 hundreds in 1998. There is a tie between Ponting (11 hundreds in 2003) and Kohli (11 hundreds in 2017 and 2018) for the number two position.

India has won 48 of the 70 matches in which Kohli has recorded a hundred (68.57%) and lost just 14 – an indicator of the significance of his runs in India’s victories and success.

The Indian captain has not registered an international hundred since his 136 against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in November, 2019. It has been the longest batting slump in his otherwise brilliant international career.

It is only a matter of time when a hungrier Kohli makes it count. And he will!