He has done it. The wait's finally over. Fourteen years after Virat Kohli embarked on a glorious journey at the Eden Gardens, life came full circle at the same venue for the ambitious Delhi boy as he equalled his idol Sachin Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI centuries on his 35th birthday. As almost always, Kohli's ton took India to a position of strength against South Africa in their ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 clash. The hosts were batting at with Kohli on and (Match Blog | Streaming | Scorecard | Key Battles)
As a 21-year-old, Kohli had hit his maiden international hundred against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens on December 24, 2009. He had walked out to bat after the fall of Tendulkar's wicket and forged a match-winning 224-run partnership with fellow centurion Gautam Gambhir.
It was only fitting that Kohli overtook the man whose legacy he has tried to emulate, at the same ground. That he did it on his birthday, and in a World Cup match made it doubly special.
In typical Kohli fashion, it was a knock replete with hard-earned ones and twos, and nary a ball lofted in anger. He hit 10 fours and no sixes en route his ton. Kohli's maiden international ton in 2009 ton too involved conventionsl cricket shots along the ground and lots of running between the wickets, as he had hit 11 fours and a solitary six in his 107-run knock.
Kohli has lit up the 2023 Cricket World Cup with a number of luminous innings. He scored 88 against Sri Lanka in Mumbai to help take India to the semi-finals. Earlier, he scored a match-winning 95 against New Zealand to follow up his 103 not out against Bangladesh. The stylish right-hander began the tournament with a solid 85 and came up with another fifty against Afghanistan in Delhi.
India will hope the red-form of the 'Chase Master'' continues if they are to win their third ODI WC title.
