Data check: Virat Kohli breaks Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most ODI centuries

Virat Kohli broke his “hero” Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most One-Day International hundreds during India’s ICC Men’s ODI World Cup semi-final fixture against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Wednesday.

Scoring an unbeaten 100 off 106 balls on Wednesday, Kohli now has 80 international centuries across formats. Here too, he only trails Tendulkar’s record 100 hundreds across formats by 20.

It has taken Kohli 279 innings to score 50 hundreds while Tendulkar had taken 452 innings to amass 49 hundreds.

Kohli had equalled Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI tons during India’s 243-run rout of fellow World Cup semi-finalists South Africa on Sunday. On the occasion of his 35th birthday, he made a superbly paced unbeaten 101 on a tricky pitch at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.

Also read: ICC Men’s ODI World Cup: Birthday boy Virat Kohli turns a century older at Eden Gardens

Interestingly, the top three batters to score the most hundreds in ODIs are all Indians. After Kohli and Tendulkar, Indian captain Rohit Sharma follows with 31 centuries in 251 innings.

Ricky Ponting (30) and David Warner (22) are the two Australians in the top 10 while Sanath Jayasuriya (28) and Kumar Sangakkara (25) are the two batters from Sri Lanka. Hashim Amla (27) and AB de Villiers (25) are the only batters from South Africa. Chris Gayle also features in the list with 25 centuries.

Warner is the only active player in the list after Kohli and Sharma.

Here’s a look at the record for most ODI hundreds for batters:

After Kohli had equalled Tendulkar’s record, the Indian great wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Well played Virat. It took me 365 days to go from 49 to 50 (years old) earlier this year. I hope you go from 49 to 50 and break my record in the next few days. Congratulations.”

Kohli responded to that during the post-match presentation saying, “His tweet is quite special. It’s all too much to take in for now. It’s a huge honour to equal my hero’s record. He’s perfection with the bat. It’s an emotional moment. I know the days I come from, I know the days I have watched him on TV.

Also read: Cricket: Virat Kohli matches Sachin Tendulkar’s 49 ODI tons – ‘To equal my hero’s record is special’

Almost half of Kohli’s centuries have come while playing in India. His 24 centuries are the most any batter has scored in India ahead of Tendulkar’s 20 and Rohit Sharma’s 13.

With six centuries in Bangladesh and five centuries in Australia, Kohli also holds the record for most 100+ scores in those countries by a foreign batter. Kohli and Tendulkar also hold the record for most centuries by a foreign batter in Sri Lanka, with five apiece.