Virat Kohli recreates AB de Villiers feat; goes past Ricky Ponting

Virat Kohli made his milestone 200th One-Day International game a memorable one as the Indian captain slammed his 31st century in this format. With this hundred, Kohli went past Ricky Ponting in centuries tally and now stands behind only Sachin Tendulkar, who is firm at the top with 49 hundreds. Virat Kohli struck 121 off 125 balls during the first ODI against New Zealand at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium as India ended up 280/8 after electing to bat first.

Coming to bat after the departure of openers early on, Kohli played a crucial inning on a track that was on the slower side. He shared crucial a 73-run stand with the comeback man Dinesh Karthik for the 4th wicket and 57 runs with former skipper MS Dhoni for the 5th wicket to put a stiff total in front of the Kiwis. With this knock, Kohli recorded the highest individual score for an Indian in ODIs at Wankhede. He is only the 3rd Indian after Sachin Tendulkar (114 in 1996) and Mohammad Azharuddin (108* in 1987) to score an ODI century at Wankhede.

Most centuries in ODI cricket:

Highest individual scores for India at Wankhede in ODI cricket:

With help of the knock, Kohli has accumulated 1318 runs in ODI cricket in 2017 which is the highest for an Indian captain in a calendar year and overall the 4th highest for any captain in a year. Mohammad Azharuddin scored 1268 runs in 1998 which was the previous highest for an Indian captain. This hundred was Kohli’s 5th century in 2017 and he became only the 6th to score five ODI centuries in a calendar year and the 2nd Indian after Sourav Ganguly.

By scoring a century in his 200th ODI game, Virat Kohli became only the 2nd player to score a century in career’s 200th ODI after AB de Villiers. Overall, three other Indians scored a fifty in their 200th ODI with Yuvraj Singh’s 76 in 2008 against Sri Lanka being the previous highest. Before Kohli, no Indian player managed to score a century in milestone ODI game i.e. in 100th or 200th or 300th or 400th ODI match.

Highest individual scores in the 200th ODI match:

(Stats as on October 22, 2017)