In the opening match against Sri Lanka on Tuesday at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati, Kohli scored his 45th century to not only push India’s total past 350 but also to a few personal milestones, two of which relate to batting idol and India legend Sachin Tendulkar. 

The century drought now seems to be over.

For the first time in more than three years, former India captain Virat Kohli has scored consecutive centuries in one-day international cricket. In India’s opening match against Sri Lanka on Tuesday at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati, Kohli scored his 45th century to not only push India’s total past 350 but also to a few personal milestones, two of which pertain to batting idol and India legend Sachin Tendulkar.

Kohli scored a match-winning 136 against Bangladesh in the Pink Ball Test on November 23, 2019, ending his more than 1,000-day wait for an international century. In the end, he scored a century in an ODI match against Bangladesh and followed it up with a 113-run score in 87 balls.

Kohli equaled Sachin’s astonishing home century record with the knock, which included a single six and 12 boundaries. On home soil, the two India batting superstars now have 20 tons. However, Kohli achieved the feat in 61 fewer innings than Sachin did in 160 innings.

Picture of the day – Virat Kohli, The King.#ViratKohli | #INDvSL | #INDvsSL | #ViratKohli𓃵 pic.twitter.com/tP5vnFi9dS

— Virat Kohli Fan Club (@Trend_VKohli) January 10, 2023

This was also Kohli’s ninth century in ODI cricket, which he also owns against West Indies. He is the only batter to ever have nine or more tons against two different teams in this format. Sachin was the only other batter to accomplish this against Australia.

Kohli is still behind Sachin in terms of most ODI and international tons, but in the 50-over format, he is four centuries short of matching his idol’s total. He still falls 27 centuries short of Sachin’s 100 tons across all formats.

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“I have had a bit of break, and a couple of practice sessions coming into this game, so I was fresh after that Bangladesh tour. I was excited for the home season to start. The openers allowed me to get into the game and I tried to keep my strike rate in check. I was happy I was able to maintain the tempo and we finished with 370,”

said Kohli at the end of India’s innings.