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

Can Virat Kohli achieve the massive record of scoring 100 centuries in international cricket?

By Prem Singh

Updated - 27 Jul 2021, 12:40 IST

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5 Min Read

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

Player Format Innings Runs Avg 100s
Sachin Tendulkar
Tests 329 15921 53.78 51
ODIs 452 18426 44.83 49
T20Is 1 10 10 0
Overall 782 34357 48.52 100
Virat Kohli
Tests 155 7547 52.04 27
ODIs 245 12169 59.07 43
T20Is 84 3159 52.65 0
Overall 484 22875 55.65 70

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

Format Innings Runs Avg 100s
Tests 173 8882 56.57 31
ODIs 311 12640 45.14 36
Overall 484 21522 49.24 67

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

Format Innings Runs Avg 100s
Tests 184 9470 57.39 33
ODIs 324 13134 44.82 37
Overall 508 22604 49.35 70

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

Year Innings played Centuries
2008 5 0
2009 8 1
2010 25 3
2011 47 4
2012 46 8
2013 43 6
2014 47 8
2015 37 4
2016 41 7
2017 52 11
2018 47 11
2019 46 7
2020 24 0
2021* 16 0

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

Sachin Tendulkar Virat Kohli
Debut age 16 Years 205 days 19 Years 287 days
Retirement age 40 Years 206 days Current age – 32 Years 260 days

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.

Career Span Innings played (ODI and Tests) Innings per year
Sachin Tendulkar 24 Years 1 day 781 32
Virat Kohli 12 Years 339 days 400 31

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

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