Virat Kohli Continues His Dominance as He Approaches Sachin Tendulkar's Century Tally

The festive week of Sankranthi was one for the record books for both India and Virat Kohli. Last week, with his second century in two games, Virat Kohli reiterated himself as one of the greatest ODI batters of all time, and one of the greats across formats. Two games later, he not only strengthens his claim as one of the best, but also continues to move forward.

With one innings, he goes past Mahela Jayawardene to stand fifth on the run-scoring charts in ODI Cricket, in just 259 innings. His average has gone past 58 and he is a mere three hundreds away from equaling the great Sachin Tendulkar for most centuries in the format.

From the onset of his career, Virat Kohli loved playing against the Sri Lankans. His first ODI Century came against the same side with Gautham Gambhir at the other end, in a run-chase that got a little spicy to start with. A couple years later, after establishing himself as the young flame of Indian Cricket, Virat Kohli found an innings which led to his promotion.

His 133 at Hobart remains one of his best as the youngster took apart Lasith Malinga at his peak. The knock led to his rise as vice-captain of the side, beginning his journey as MS Dhoni’s man in arms. Over the years, Virat Kohli has set a strong template to One-Day Cricket. He is a player who loves building his innings in a steady manner.

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While the demands of T20 Cricket has led to both formats requiring smash and bash cricket from the word go, Virat Kohli continues to thrive in his own style. On a lifeless track, he unleashed his cover drive rather quickly, but still continued to go about his business with minimum risks. Proper cricketing shots and exceptional running between the wickets, which is often associated with his style of batting.

With a steady start, he got a silent fifty off 48 balls, and was swift in his acceleration as the hundred came up in 85 balls. After his hundred though, Virat Kohli took off. In the 25 balls that followed he made 66 runs to prove that his style of anchoring and bursting still holds in the current era of cricket. He waited for the bad balls, put pressure on Sri Lanka’s fielders and was an integral part as India were ten shy of 400.

His innings set up an easy win as India went on to create the record for the biggest margin by runs in ODI Cricket. He outscored Sri Lanka on his own, and with the last four ODIs, the Cricketing World received a reminder from the King who asserts himself as one of the best players in ODI Cricket, a format that seemingly lost its way.