Virat Kohli, India’s superstar batter, showcased his immense prowess again by smashing his 48th century in ODIs during the 2023 World Cup match against Bangladesh. As India appeared well on their way to a fourth consecutive victory in the tournament, one could sense Kohli’s mindset shifting as he set his sights on that magical three-figure mark. After all, Kohli had paced his innings to near-perfection – as he has done all through his career – since arriving at the crease in the 13th over of the game.
As India required just 19 runs to win and Kohli needed exactly as many to reach his century, the iconic batter embarked on his chase for the hundred. In the final couple of overs of the match, Kohli repeatedly denied singles, and KL Rahul, the non-striker, was equally collaborative in the 34-year-old’s quest. Kohli’s approach became more aggressive, focusing on finding boundaries and relying less on running between the wickets to reach his milestone.
Yet, no Kohli inning is truly complete without his immaculate ability to convert ones into twos. During the penultimate over, Kohli thrilled the crowd with two quick twos – a testament to his incredible fitness and determination. Kohli’s relentless pursuit for a century culminated most dramatically. With just two runs needed for the victory and three for his ton, Kohli smashed a sensational six against Nasum Ahmed, not only securing India a resounding win but also reaching the magnificent three-figure mark in Pune.
The crowd, naturally, erupted in joy as Kohli once again demonstrated why he is regarded as one of the greatest ODI batters of all time. With his 48th century, Kohli inched closer to Sachin Tendulkar, who holds the record for most centuries in ODIs (49). Overall, Kohli smashed his 78th international ton; Tendulkar remains at the top, with 100 centuries to his name. But this wasn’t the only milestone for the India star. Kohli also went past Mahela Jayawardene to become the all-time fourth top-scorer in international cricket during his innings against Bangladesh. He is now only behind Sachin Tendulkar (34,357 runs), Kumar Sangakkara (28,016 runs) and Ricky Ponting (27,483 runs) in this elite list.
However, this wasn’t the most significant milestone of the evening. Although the coveted 50th ODI century remains just two centuries away, Kohli, in the course of his innings, accomplished another remarkable feat by surpassing another one of Tendulkar’s records. He became the fastest to reach 26,000 runs in international cricket. With an impressive total of 26,026 runs in international cricket and still unbeaten, Kohli achieved this milestone in his 567th international innings, which is 34 innings fewer than the legendary Tendulkar’s 601 innings.The evening wasn’t over for Kohli just yet. Another remarkable achievement awaited Kohli, and he seized it with flair, surpassing both Brian Lara and Rohit Sharma to secure the fourth position among the highest run-scorers in the history of ODI World Cups. With this feat, Kohli now is behind only Tendulkar (2278 runs), Ponting (1743 runs), and Sangakkara (1531 runs) in ODI World Cups.
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