The milestone man is close to a World Record during the Cricket World Cup. Having notched up 48th ODI ton, Virat Kohli is now in touching distance of Sachin Tendulkar in Most ODI centuries record. Tendulkar has 49 ODI centuries. Now, the real question is, can Kohli become King of ODIs? India Cricket Team has five matches left in the league stage and they will face Sri Lanka and Netherlands apart from three string sides in New Zealand, England and South Africa.
But facing Sri Lanka at the batting heavens such as Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and Netherlands at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Virat Kohli could be on course to get his Century No 50, a world record.
The only active batsman who is close to Virat Kohli is Rohit Sharma. But he is not even in touching distance. He has 31 ODI tons, far away.
Most ODI Centuries
| Pos | Player | Country | Inns | Runs | HS | Avg | 100 |
| 1 | Sachin Tendulkar | India | 452 | 18426 | 200* | 44.83 | 49 |
| 2 | Virat Kohli | India | 273 | 13342 | 183 | 58 | 48 |
| 3 | Rohit Sharma | India | 247 | 10377 | 264 | 49.18 | 31 |
| 4 | Ricky Ponting | Australia | 365 | 13704 | 164 | 42.03 | 30 |
| 5 | Sanath Jayasuriya | Sri Lanka | 433 | 13430 | 189 | 32.36 | 28 |
| 6 | Hasim Amla | South Africa | 178 | 8113 | 159 | 49.46 | 27 |
| 7 | AB de Villiers | South Africa | 218 | 9577 | 176 | 53.5 | 25 |
| 8 | Chris Gayle | West Indies | 294 | 10480 | 215 | 37.83 | 25 |
| 9 | Kumar Sangakkara | Sri Lanka | 380 | 14234 | 169 | 41.98 | 25 |
| 10 | Sourav Ganguly | India | 300 | 11363 | 183 | 41.02 | 22 |
How can Virat Kohli reach 50th ODI ton?
The answer is simple: score two more tons in the next five games. But it’s not that simple. India’s campaign only gets difficult from here. India Cricket team will face New Zealand, England and South Africa out of their last five games. But it’s the venue and the pitch that will matter.
India vs New Zealand, Oct 22: The first big clash is against New Zealand in Dharamshala. But Virat Kohli will be up against a quality bowling side or the second-best bowling attack in the tournament after India. Matt Henry, Trent Boult and Mitchell Santner have been great. Furthermore, much will depend on which surface Dharamshala will use for the clash. There have been 350+ scores as well as 156 all out. So, the pitch remains a mystery for now. If it’s a batting heaven, Kohli will be in good stead.
India vs England, Oct 29: After New Zealand, India will face England challenge. England’s bowling has been the weak link so far. But there are plenty of good bowlers. To add Ben Stokes into the mix, England will only get stronger. Scoring against England won’t be that easy and Virat Kohli knows it well, especially when the match is in Lucknow where spinners will dominate.
India vs Sri Lanka, Nov 2: The real chance for Virat Kohli to get the century no 49 will be at his new home Wankhede against Sri Lanka. With that, he could equal Sachin Tendulkar. In 6 innings, Virat Kohli has a century and a half-century at the Wankhede in ODIs. He averages 53.80 in ODIs at the venue. His Test and T20 records at his new home are also pretty impressive. Hence, against a weaker bowling attack in Mumbai, No 49 could be loading.
India vs South Africa, Nov 5: Kohli will play at his favourite Eden Gardens on Nov 5. In Kolkata, Kohli has a century and three fifties in 7 ODI innings. With a misfiring South Africa bowling line-up, Virat Kohli will eye No 50.
India vs Netherlands, Nov 12: However, if he does fail, no worries. Virat Kohli will return to his second home M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Having spent all his IPL years in Bengaluru, no one knows the ground better than King Kohli. To make things more interesting, Chinnaswamy is back to his batting best. In the first match at the venue, 672 runs were scored between Australia and Pakistan. Against a weak bowling attack like the Netherlands, Kohli will aim to get world record, scoring 50th ODI century to surpass Sachin Tendulkar before moving to the semifinals. However, Kohli has never scored an ODI century in Bengaluru and has just one fifty.
