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Team India’s star batsman Virat Kohli broke the long-standing record of compatriot Sachin Tendulkar for the most ODI hundreds of all-time.
Kohli reached the landmark of 50th ODI century in the first semifinal match of the ongoing ICC Men’s ODI Cricket World Cup against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday. In the process, he became the leading century scorer of all times.
Kohli reached the landmark when he worked Kiwis pacer Lockie Ferguson to square leg for a double, moving from 98 to 100.
Kohli, a man with impeccable sense of occasion, achieved the milestone at the Wankhede Stadium with the legendary Tendulkar himself in attendance.
The whole heft of the achievement was magnified by the fact that November 15 also was the last time Tendulkar batted in international match for India, a Test against the West Indies at this venue.
Kohli scored his hundred off 106 balls, hitting eight boundaries and one maximum as he broke the record of 49 centuries he had jointly held with Sachin Tendulkar.
His 50th century came in 279 innings. There were huge expectations of Kohli breaking the record at the Wankhede after he failed to do so in India's last league match against the Netherlands. He had equalled the record with an unbeaten 101 against South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on November 5.
Sachin Tendulkar, who hoped that Kohli would break his record and was present in the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday as the Delhi batter went past him, is now second in the list with 49 centuries off 452 innings.
India skipper Rohit Sharma is third in the list with 31 tons off 253 innings followed by Australia's Ricky Ponting on 30 (off 365 innings). Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya is fifth on the list with 28 hundreds off 433 innings.
Kohli has also goes past Tendulkar’s record for most runs in a single World Cup. He has gone past 673 runs which Tendulkar made in the 2003 World Cup.
