World Cup, India vs South Africa: Virat Kohli equals Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most ODI tons

King level with God
KOLKATA: People celebrate their birthdays in different ways. Virat Kohli prefers to do it with what he does best – scoring a century. It was, however, not one of the greatest of Kohli’s innings, yet it will remain a memorable one since he got his 49th ODI ton and touched the great Sachin Tendulkar‘s milestone of highest number of centuries in the 50-over version of the game.

Interestingly, Sachin too had got a ton on his 25th birthday in the Coca Cola Cup final in Sharjah on April 24, 1998, where the Little Master scored 134 while opening the innings against Australia.

Sachin was one of the firsts to congratulate Kohli. “Well played, Virat. It took me 365 days to go from 49 to 50 earlier this year. I hope you go from 49 to 50 and break my record in the next few days,” he wrote on X.

“Every opportunity to play for India is a big one for me, and to be able to do this on my birthday in front of such a huge crowd is the stuff of dreams,” Kohli said after the innings at the Eden Gardens. “It’s something that you wish for as a child. So I am very grateful to God that I am blessed with these moments. So much love from the fans as well. Just continue to try and help the team in any way possible,” he added.

Kohli has carved a reputation for himself as a chase master as he is blessed with the gift of breaking down scores into small targets and going for it without panicking. However, on Sunday, he had to battle hard on a pitch that was gripping and it was a battle of attrition.

Kohli always wants to dominate the bowlers, but on a slow Eden track, he had to change his game plan. He got off briskly hitting South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada for two consecutive fours after India skipper Rohit Sharma departed in the sixth over of the day. He raced to 18 off 14 balls with the help of four fours.

But he slowed down considerably after the Powerplay with South African spinners Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi putting on the brakes.

Maharaj could have had Kohli’s wicket too, but wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock dropped a sharp chance on the leg side when the batter was in his mid-30s. In the very next over, Maharaj just missed the outer edge as Kohli was deceived by the turn while playing on the front foot.

But the former India skipper knew that runs would come if he hung in there and he did exactly that.

“It was a wicket that was tricky to bat on. We got a great start. My job was to keep the momentum going when I got in,” he said, while analysing his innings, highlighting his ability to manage risk expertly. It’s not often that one gets to see Kohli’s partner surpassing him, but on Sunday Shreyas Iyer played the aggressive role scoring at a strike rate of 88.51 while Kohli’s unbeaten 101 runs came at the rate of 83.47.

Surprisingly, Kohli, who hit 10 boundaries, didn’t get a six during his 121-ball stay in the middle. But the 134-run third-wicket stand between Kohli and Iyer off 158 balls took India to a position of strength. It was, however, a restrained celebration from Kohli after reaching the landmark in the 49th over of the India innings. Perhaps he knew the job is still not done and there’s still a Cup to win.