Anurag Kumar
During India’s match against Bangladesh in the 2023 World Cup, India’s superstar batsman Virat Kohli notched his 48th century in one-day internationals, demonstrating once again his enormous prowess in the sport. One could sense a shift in Kohli’s mentality as he set his sights on the enchanted three-figure mark as India appeared to be well on their way to claiming a fourth straight title in the competition. Kohli’s batting average was already in the nineties. After all, Kohli had timed his innings to almost perfect precision ever since he arrived at the crease in the 13th over of the game, which is something he has consistently done throughout his career.
The legendary batsman Kohli started his chase for the century when India needed only 19 more runs to win and he needed exactly the same number of runs to reach the century mark himself. In the closing handful of overs of the game, Kohli prevented singles on multiple occasions, and KL Rahul, who was not the striker, was just as helpful to the 34-year-old in his effort to achieve his goal. In order to accomplish his milestone, Kohli’s strategy shifted to become more aggressive. He began to place more emphasis on finding boundaries and relied less on dashing between the wickets.
However, the completion of a Kohli innings is not possible without his flawless capability of converting ones into twos. Two quick twos in the penultimate over by Kohli wowed the audience, serving as evidence of his extraordinary stamina and fitness.
The pinnacle of Kohli’s unrelenting quest for excellence materialized in the most spectacular manner. Kohli, who required only two runs to secure the victory and three for his century, hit an extraordinary six against Nasum Ahmed in Pune, accomplishing not only a resounding victory for India but also a magnificent century.
Naturally, the crowd erupted in jubilation as Kohli demonstrated once more why he is considered one of the all-time finest ODI batters. Kohli’s 48th century brought him one step closer to Tendulkar, who currently holds the record for the most centuries scored in ODIs with 49.
Nevertheless, that was not the India star’s sole moment of achievement. In addition, throughout his innings against Bangladesh, Kohli surpassed Jayawardene to become the fourth-leading scorer in the history of international cricket.
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He is now only behind Sachin Tendulkar (34,357 runs), Kumar Sangakkara (28,016 runs) and Ricky Ponting (27,483 runs) in this elite list. Additionally, Kohli surpassed Brian Lara and Rohit Sharma to rank as the fourth-leading scorer in ODI World Cup history. In ODI World Cups, he currently trails Sachin Tendulkar (2278 runs), Ricky Ponting (1743 runs), and Kumar Sangakkara (1531 runs).
