Virat Kohli pulled off a record-laden hundred against South Africa in the top-of-the-table World Cup 2023 clash on Sunday. The legendary batter equalled Sachin Tendulkar's record for 49 ODI centuries and did it on his 35th birthday to make it a special occasion.
Batting first, India lost in-form openers in the first eleven over but a brilliant fifty from Shreyas Iyer and an unbeaten hundred from Kohli helped India score 326 runs at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Kohlui stole the limelight again for his birthday and more due to his record-laden hundred.
Kohli also joined Sachin Tendulkar in another memorable milestone with his century. He became the only seventh cricketer in the World to score an ODI century on his birthday. The former captain became the only third Indian cricketer to join this elite list.
The former cricketer Vinod Kambli was the player to achieve this feat in 1993 when registered an unbeaten hundred against England in Jaipur on his 21st birthday. Sachin Tendulkar repeated the feat after scoring 134 runs against Australia in Sharjah in 1998. Most recently, Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh smashed 121 runs against Pakistan in the ongoing World Cup 2023 and is now joined by Virat Kohli with a memorable knock.
Players to score ODI hundred of birthday:
- Vinod Kambli (India) - 100* vs England in 1993
- Sachin Tendulkar (India) - 134 vs Australia in 1998
- Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) - 130 vs Bangladesh in 2008
- Ross Taylor (New Zealand) - 131* vs Pakistan in 2011
- Tom Latham (New Zealand) - 140* vs Netherlands in 2022
- Mitchell Marsh (Australia) - 121 vs Pakistan in 2023
- Virat Kohli (India) - 101* vs South Africa in 2023 (Today)
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli also became the only second Indian cricketer after Sachin Tendulkar to score 6000-plus ODI runs in India. Kohli also leads the scoring chart for India in the ongoing tournament with 543 runs in eight innings with two hundreds and four fifties.
