Star India batter Virat Kohli slammed his second century in as many games during the 2nd ODI against South Africa in Raipur on Wednesday. The 37-year-old, who struck a 135 in the series-opener in Ranchi, took just 90 balls to reach the record. It was his 53rd century, a record-extending feat, in the format. After scoring a century in the opening ODI, the former captain of India is still silencing his detractors. Additionally, this was Kohli’s 84th international century, bringing him even closer to the record set by Sachin Tendulkar. (Live updates for the second ODI between South Africa and India)
Tendulkar retired from international cricket in 2013, concluding his career with a century of tons (51 Tests, 49 ODIs).
This was Kohli’s 11th consecutive century in ODIs, the most of any player in the format’s history, demonstrating his extraordinary consistency in the 50-over format.
With just 32 rating points separating him from Rohit Sharma, Kohli also moved closer to taking back the top spot in the ICC ODI batting rankings.
Kohli was the No.1 ranked batter for a sustained period of more than three years towards the close of the last decade, but hasn’t maintained the primary position since Pakistan’s Babar Azam supplanted him at the top in April 2021.
Rohit expanded his lead at the top on second placed Daryl Mitchell of New Zealand and Afghanistan’s Ibrahim Zadran in third, with Kohli moving past colleague Shubman Gill and into fourth to make inroads on the former India captain at the top.
After the recent tri-series in Pakistan ended, there was another shift at the top of the rankings for T20I all-rounders, and veteran left-armer Kuldeep Yadav moved up one spot to sixth on the most recent rankings for ODI bowlers.
