Virat Kohli who is the eminent India batsman, notched his 49th ODI century in a match against South Africa at Kolkata’s iconic Eden Gardens on November 5. Completing his hundred off 119 balls, featuring ten boundaries, Kohli distinctively marked this milestone. Celebrating his century, he equalled the record held by legendary Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli’s achievement came in his 289th ODI appearance.
This landmark is from the talismanic India batter as the gap difference between Kohli and Tendulkar in terms of innings taken to score 49 centuries is huge. In addition to it, attaining it on his 35th birthday is like a cherry on the cake for the star batter and his fans.
The talismanic India batter’s century made him the seventh cricketer to achieve a hundred in One Day Internationals (ODIs) on his birthday, joining a prestigious list that includes cricket legends such as Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, Sanath Jayasuriya, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, and Mitchell Marsh. It’s worth noting that Ross Taylor is the only player who had previously scored a century on his birthday in an ODI World Cup match, specifically during the 2011 edition against Pakistan.
Let us look at how Twitter has reacted to this milestone from the legendary batter;
He is undoubtedly GREATEST OF ALL TIME.???
— Tushar N. (@Tussh_aar) November 5, 2023
Absolutely phenomenal! This is definitely a moment that will go down in history.
— Stewie (@StewzieGriffin) November 5, 2023
GOAT ?
— ????? ????????? (@VirenOG) November 5, 2023
The sound meter at Eden Gardens was 118 DB when Kohli scored the hundred.
– The face of cricket ? pic.twitter.com/OKg1tgnsp7
— Jago India (@JagoIndia_) November 5, 2023
I might have seen it but I don't remember Sachin's 100.
But I have grown with Virat, grew with his aggressive century celebrations to today's decent "thankyou so much" 100 celebration.
Virat, thankyou so much! ???
FOR THE RECORD, I WAS ALIVE WHEN VIRAT DID THIS!
GOAT! ?
— Manthan (@manthanojha_) November 5, 2023
Absolutely incredible! Such a memorable moment.
— Stewie (@StewzieGriffin) November 5, 2023
The greatest that ever live
— CricXtra (@CricXtra_) November 5, 2023
The KING is GOAT ? surpassing GOD ????
— Cricket Polls (@CricPollsdaily) November 5, 2023
India posted a tricky total of 326 runs on a tough Eden Garden pitch
After winning the toss, the India skipper Rohit Sharma opted to bat first on a pitch is expected to get slower as the game progresses. The opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill got India off to a flying start. The duo reached a partnership of 50 runs in just the fifth over of the match. But it was Kagiso Rabada who struck for the Proteas and halted the proceedings. Rabada dismissed Rohit who was playing brilliantly on 40 runs off just 24 deliveries.
Once Rohit was dismissed Shubman and Virat Kohli joined hands and were looking to construct a partnership. But it was not to be the case as an absolute peach of a delivery from Keshav Maharaj sent Gill (23) back to the hut. With the pitch starting to slow down, Kohli and Shreyas Iyer constructed a well-complied partnership of 134 runs. However, trying to up the scoring rate Iyer was dismissed off the bowling of Lungi Ngidi for a well-complied innings of 77 runs. Late cameos from Suryakumar Yadav (22) and Ravindra Jadeja (29) helped India post a total of 326 runs
