WC 2023: Virat Kohli hits 48th ODI century, edges closer to Sachin Tendulkar's record

India superstar batter Virat Kohli scored his 48th ODI century to edge closer to legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar’s record. Kohli scored a century against Bangladesh at the MCA Stadium in Pune.

Kohli brought up ODI century number 48 to come into touching distance of Tendulkar’s record tally of 49 ODI hundreds. Kohli was immaculate in India’s 257-run chase against Bangladesh and got to his landmark in 97 balls. The former India captain scored 103 run off 97 deliveries, smashing six boundaries and four sixes.

With this knock, Kohli also went past Jayawardene to become the all-time fourth top-scorer in international cricket. 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. Kohli has now scored 26,026 runs in international cricket.

This was Kohli’s first century in ODI World Cups since the 2015 edition. He came into this game in great form, having scored two fifties in the last three



matches in this tournament.

In fact, Kohli also overtook Brian Lara and Rohit Sharma to become the fourth highest scorer in the history of ODI World Cups. He is now behind Sachin Tendulkar (2278 runs), Ricky Ponting (1743 runs) and Kumar Sangakkara (1531 runs).

As far as the 2023 World Cup is concerned, Kohli moved up to second place in the run-getters list with 259 runs in four innings, only behind India captain Rohit Sharma (265 runs). Incredibly, Kohli is averaging 129.50, while striking at 90.24 in the 2023 World Cup.

Kohli came in to bat after India had lost the wicket of skipper Rohit Sharma, who got the Men in Blue to a flying start in Pune. Rohit smashed 48 runs off 40 balls, hitting seven boundaries and two sixes, before being dismissed by Hasan Mahmud.

Kohli brought up his half-century in 48 deliveries and went on to form crucial partnerships with Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and finally, with KL Rahul to guide India to an impressive 7-wicket win in Pune.