How realistic are Virat Kohli's chances to break Sachin Tendulkar's 100 centuries record?

What’s the biggest ever cricket record achieved by a cricketer at the international level? Some people might say its’ Don Bradman’s unbelievable Test average (99.94) while many others may agree on Sachin’s record of 100 centuries. In fact, even taking only Sachin’s case, this particular record is surely his biggest ever milestone in international cricket. So is there any player who can break this record?

Well, we do have one name, and that is none other than Indian skipper Virat Kohli who is already considered among the all-time greats. The speed at which Virat has scored centuries in his career, he certainly has raised hopes among his fans to achieve this massive record.

He is arguably the greatest ever ODI batsman and has been brilliant in the other two formats as well. In this article, we will be analysing where Virat stands in terms of breaking Sachin’s record of 100 tons.

Sachin vs Kohli Overall Record

The overall record puts Virat way ahead of Sachin in every aspect. His ODI numbers are phenomenal, and he has been excellent in Test cricket too. In fact, Virat can be expected to go past Sachin’s ODI tons tally of 49 in the next two years. In Test cricket, it is likely the Virat’s tally of centuries may fall short of what Sachin achieved in his career.

Though Virat has scored over 3000 runs in T20Is, he is yet to hit his first hundred in the format. Overall, the Indian captain has till now played 484 innings in international cricket, in which he has scored 22875 runs including 70 centuries.

Sachin’s record at the end of 484 innings

If we see the batting stats of Sachin Tendulkar at the end of 484 innings, he is over 1000 runs short of Virat’s tally. The master-blaster slammed 67 hundreds till that point in comparison to Virat’s 70 tons.

Sachin Tendulkar’s stats at Virat’s current age

If we consider the age factor, both the players have the same number of centuries. At Virat’s current age, Sachin had scored 22604 runs at an average of 49.35 including 70 tons. Even in terms of runs, there is not much big difference between the two stars.

Virat Kohli’s centuries each year

The Indian skipper has a great record in international cricket in terms of centuries hit. Among the 70 tons he has scored, 62 have come between 2012 to 2019. However, he is yet to score a century since November 2019. Though it can’t still be considered a rough patch as he has scored 1703 runs including 17 fifties in that phase.

We can hope that Virat Kohli will be back to his magnificent form where he scores centuries for fun. On average, Virat has scored 11 centuries in every two years.

The longevity factor

If we see the overall record from the previous point, Virat will need another 6 years to complete 100 centuries in international cricket. Sachin played his last match at the age of 40 Years 206 days while Virat is currently aged 32 Years and 260 days. And looking at Virat’s fitness level, he can certainly play till 40, but it will also depend on his personal reasons for quitting cricket.

The T20I matches factor

One important thing we need to note while comparing the centuries scored in particular innings is about the T20I format. Virat has played 84 innings in the shortest format but doesn’t have any hundred in it. It is very difficult to score a century in T20Is, and the same is the case with Virat. More importantly, an excessive number of T20Is are played now, particularly in the years where T20 World Cup is held. This makes Virat’s chances of improving his centuries tally quite tedious.

However, another factor is that overall a lot of international cricket is played now. In fact, when compared the average number of innings played per year in ODIs and Tests, the numbers are similar for both Virat and Sachin. This means despite playing the T20I format, Virat still gets ample opportunities to hit hundreds in the other two formats.

Conclusion

Overall, seeing the record in international cricket till now, Virat should be able to reach the 100 centuries tally in his career. Though his numbers in the past two years are not that great, it is a matter of time when he gets back into his best. Apart from his form, the most important factor is going to be his decision on till when he wants to play.

However, the kind of passionate player Virat is, we can expect to see him at least for the next six years. So it all depends on him on how he makes this remaining time count.

*Stats updated till 27 July 2021