Virat Kohli’s century against West Indies on Sunday was not just another hundred. It came with a string of milestones and records as the India star continued to show his ability to score quickly even at this stage of his career.Kohli hit 139 not out off 88 balls in India’s eight-wicket win in Thiruvananthapuram. His century came off 74 balls, making it the third-fastest ODI hundred of his career.
Kohli’s fastest ODI century remains his 52-ball hundred against Australia in Jaipur in 2013. He followed it with a 61-ball hundred against Australia in Nagpur later that year.His latest 74-ball century moved into third place. His next three fastest hundreds came off 76, 76 and 80 balls, against Sri Lanka in Hobart, Colombo and Guwahati respectively.
The century was also Kohli’s 10th ODI hundred against West Indies. He already had 10 ODI centuries against Sri Lanka. That made Kohli the only batter in ODI history with 10 centuries against two different teams.Most ODI centuries against a team:
Kohli’s century also took his List A hundred tally to 60, putting him level with Sachin Tendulkar at the top of the list. Tendulkar reached 60 List A centuries in 538 innings, while Kohli got there in 338 innings.
Kohli’s 139 not out also included nine sixes, his most in an ODI innings. His previous best was eight sixes against Sri Lanka in Thiruvananthapuram in 2023. He also scored 53 runs off Alzarri Joseph, his most against the bowler in an ODI.Kohli has now been involved in 112 ODI wins while chasing, with only Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni ahead of him on the list.Involved in most wins in ODI run chases
Kohli said playing only one format for India has given him clarity, with the 2027 World Cup now a clear target.“Well, thank you firstly for the kind words. Well, my focus has never really been on these milestones, so to say. It’s just understanding the situation along the course of just doing the job for the team, whatever. Achievements come along,” Kohli said after the match.“Obviously, I feel very grateful and very blessed to be in this position for having played for so long. And yeah, just keeping my head down, working hard, and thanking God for everything that I’ve been blessed with and the opportunities that I’ve gotten in my life to be where I am. We have a very blessed life and a blessed journey because so many people want to be here, but we get to be the lucky ones. So, we better put our head down and just work hard every day of our lives,” he said.