Virat Kohli extended his 50-over purple patch in characteristic fashion, scoring his second ODI hundred in succession against South Africa at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur on Wednesday.
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Having cracked a match-winning ton in the series opener in Ranchi, Kohli picked up from where he finished as he stormed to a 90-ball century, laced with seven fours and two sixes
Kohli’s knock was complemented by a rollicking hundred from Ruturaj Gaikwad who smashed his maiden century in the format in his eighth outing. Shortly after Gaikwad fell on 105, Kohli moved to his landmark ton in the over after India were asked to bat first on a belter of a strip.
Successive ODI centuries were a regular feature during Kohli’s prime in the format between 2016-2018, and the most recent accomplishment marks the 11th such instance in his incredible 50-over career for India, easily the most by any player in the history of the format.
Kohli extended the record-breaking feats from his previous ton, moving four centuries ahead of Sachin Tendulkar on the ODI centuries tally. Kohli’s 84 international hundreds is also only behind Tendulkar’s 100 centuries and 26 ahead of the next active player, Joe Root (58).
Kohli averages nearly 70 against South Africa in 50-over cricket, the highest among the six batters who have aggregated at least 1500 against them.
The 37-year-old’s century only comes a day after he confirmed his availability for the forthcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy for Delhi, the premier domestic 50-over tournament in the country.
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The Indian Express had learnt on Tuesday that Kohli informed the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) that he will be available for selection for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, India’s domestic one-day tournament. This comes after Kohli seemed ready to defy the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) which had asked both him and Rohit Sharma in November to play in the Vijay Hazare Trophy to remain in contention to play for India.
Prior to the second ODI, former India batter Mohammed Kaif had warned the Indian team management against pushing Kohli to mandatorily compete in the domestic circuit later this month.
Kaif said that a lack of game time between the Australia series in October and the ongoing South Africa one-dayers did not affect Kohli’s intensity.
“In white-ball cricket, players do not have to make many changes. Kohli came after 35 days, and see how he played. He hit so many sixes as well. He showed he is the boss in this format. If he can bat like this and not look rusty and dominate bowlers after a gap, then I don’t think you can force him to go play the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The quality is also not high there,” Kaif said on his YouTube channel.