Virat Kohli, Despite 83 International Hundreds, Still Missing a Unique Set

Virat Kohli’s 83rd international and 52nd ODI ton broke Tendulkar’s record. Here’s a look at his milestones and the unique feat he still chases.

Virat Kohli 83 Hundreds (Image Source: Google)

Virat Kohli scored his 83rd international hundred during India vs South Africa 1st ODI, in 102 balls with seven fours and five sixes. With this he created many new milestones and most notable among them was that this was his 52nd hundred in One-Day Internationals.

Opponent wise, the list of his hundreds: 17 – Australia, 15 – Sri Lanka, 12 – West Indies, 9 each – New Zealand and South Africa, 8 – England, 7 – Bangladesh, 4 – Pakistan, 1 each – Zimbabwe and Afghanistan.

His last ODI hundred at home was: Against New Zealand during the 2023 World Cup in Mumbai.

His last international hundred was: Against Pakistan earlier this year in the Champions Trophy.

With this Ranchi hundred (his third at this venue), Virat Kohli rewrote the record for scoring most hundreds in a single format and surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s record in this respect. Sachin Tendulkar had scored 51 hundreds in Tests:

Most hundreds in a format in international cricket

52: Virat Kohli in ODIs

51: Sachin Tendulkar in Tests

49: Sachin Tendulkar in ODIs

45: Jacques Kallis in Tests

With his 83rd international hundred (52 ODI + 30 Test + 1 T20I) across all formats, he is now second only to Sachin Tendulkar's 100 international hundreds in the history of cricket. If we look at the top 10 batsmen with most hundreds in international cricket, only Virat Kohli and Joe Root are active in international cricket today and may change the figures further:

1. Sachin Tendulkar 100, 2. Virat Kohli 83, 3. Ricky Ponting 71, 4. Kumar Sangakkara 63, 5. Jacques Kallis 62, 6. Joe Root 56, 7. Hashim Amla 55, 8. Mahela Jayawardene 54, 9. Brian Lara 53, 10. Rahul Dravid 48.

Virat Kohli has scored 83 international hundreds, but he is yet to complete a unique set as he has not scored an international hundred against all 11 possible Test-playing opponents. Recently Shai Hope of West Indies scored 109* in an ODI against New Zealand in Napier and completed this unique set. He has so far scored 23 international hundreds, and this tally includes hundreds against his 11 possible Test-playing opponents: 4 each against England and India, 3 against Bangladesh, 2 each against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and 1 each against Afghanistan, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The other 2 hundreds are against Nepal and Netherlands.

Virat Kohli is among seven others who have scored international hundreds against 10 of their 11 possible Test-playing opponents: Hashim Amla (Missing a hundred against Afghanistan), Shikhar Dhawan (England), Martin Guptill (Afghanistan), Mahela Jayawardene (Ireland), Virat Kohli (Ireland), Rohit Sharma (Ireland) and Marcus Trescothick (Afghanistan). Incidentally, Virat Kohli played 5 internationals against Ireland (2 ODI + 3 T20I) but didn’t score a hundred.

While talking of Virat Kohli’s international hundreds, a record is generally missed. He holds the record of scoring most international hundreds in a decade. Believe it, during the 2010s, he scored 69 international hundreds (out of his total 83) and no one matches this feat. Leading in the list since World War II:

2020s: Joe Root leading and has so far scored 25 hundreds

2010s: Virat Kohli (69)

2000s: Ricky Ponting (55)

1990s: Sachin Tendulkar (46)

1980s: Desmond Haynes (27)

1970s: Sunil Gavaskar (22)

1960s: Ken Barrington (20)

1950s: Neil Harvey (15)

Note: All records correct up to Ranchi ODI and Perth Test.