India’s star batter Virat Kohli scored his 49th ODI century on his birthday in IND vs SA World Cup match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday. With his 49th ODI ton equaled legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most centuries in ODI cricket.
Sachin Tendulkar took 321 innings to reach the 49-century mark, while Virat Kohli took just 277 innings to reach the milestone.
Kohli, who is celebrating his 35th birthday today, reached the three figure mark in 119 balls in the 49th over with a single.
It was a record galore for King Kohli, who also became the fourth batter in history to score more than 1500 runs in ODI World Cups.
The 35-year-old also surpassed Kumar Sangakkara in list of all-time highest run scorers in the World Cup. Kohli is now third in the elite list. Sangakkara amassed 1532 runs in 37 World Cup matches. Sachin is holds the top spot 2278 runs followed by former Australia skipper Ponting who scored 1743 runs in 46 World Cup fixtures.
Talking about the game, Kohli remained unbeaten on 101 in 121 balls as Team India posted a mammoth total of 326 on a tricky Eden Gardens pitch. Kohli along with Shreyas Iyer (77) stitched together a 134-run partnership, helping India recover after losing Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill.