Virat Kohli's 5 best ODI centuries

Virat Kohli India Bangladesh
Kohli acknowledges the crowd after scoring a century against Bangladesh on his World Cup debut

Virat Kohli has scored 22 ODI centuries so farVirat Kohli has been India’s batting mainstay for a while now and recently earned plaudits from former Australian skipper Steve Waugh who described him as the best batsman in the world at present.Kohli has been especially successful in the ODI format where he has managed to get to the three-figure mark with considerable ease giving his fans several memories to cheer about. Let’s take a look at some of the best tons from his 22 ODI centuries this run scoring genius has produced in his career so far.

#5 Century on World Cup debut (vs Bangladesh at Dhaka, 2011)

Virat Kohli India Bangladesh
Kohli acknowledges the crowd after scoring a century against Bangladesh on his World Cup debut

When India faced Bangladesh in the opening match of the 2011 World Cup, it provided Dhoni & co the opportunity to extract revenge for the humiliation India received at the Port of Spain in the 2007 edition against the Bangla Tigers.

Virender Sehwag and Virat Kohli showed glimpses of what India was aiming for in the tournament, by making a mockery of Bangladesh’s decision to field first on a slow pitch not conducive to shot making. Sehwag stole the show that day with his mammoth innings of 175, but Kohli playing in his first World Cup match wasn’t in a mood to be left behind either.

Kohli had only come into the side in place of Raina, but the Delhi lad showed no signs of pressure as he drove effortlessly whole day. Coming in to bat at No 4, Kohli got to the pitch of the ball and played a confident innings and notched up his maiden World Cup hundred in 83 balls in the penultimate ball of the innings.

#4 Whirlwind in Jaipur (vs Australia at Jaipur, 2013)

Australia, already one up in the series, stepped up the ante by posted a mammoth total of 359 in the 2nd ODI at Jaipur. The pitch was a belter to bat on, but a target as stiff as this would need something special to chase down and Kohli did just that.

Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma gave India’s reply the perfect start by taking Australia’s bowlers to the cleaners all around the park. By the time Dhawan departed for 95, the stage was set for Kohli to demolish the Aussies and he did it in a grand manner, smashing India’s fastest ODI hundred in just 52 balls. There was no stopping him and the ball went off his bat like a tracer bullet all night as India chased down the target with 39 balls to spare.

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#3 He does it again! (vs Australia at Nagpur, 2013)

They say if it happens once, it is a fluke but when lightning strikes twice like when Kohli did it again in Nagpur against the Aussies, it showed he had pure dominance over his friends from Down Under.

Australia yet again posted a huge total of 350 riding on skipper George Bailey’s innings of 156 from 114 balls. Dhawan and Sharma once again got India off to a similar start just like in Jaipur. The opening wicket partnership yielded 178 runs, but India still required 173 runs from 123 balls. That’s when Kohli walked in and turned the match on its head. He scored 115 of just 66 balls with a jaw-dropping strike rate of 174. He hit mostly in the V and threaded the mid wicket region with grace, thus helping India equalize the series at 3-3.

#2 Kohli\'s highest ODI score (vs Pakistan, Asia Cup, 2012)

The stage for Kohli’s highest ODI score was the 2012 Asia Cup and it was the mother of all matches with India taking on Pakistan. Banking on the centuries of Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed, Pakistan set India a target of 330.

India needed their highest successful run chase at the time to gain victory. After losing Gambhir in just the second ball of the Indian innings, Kohli came in and showed the world that India had found the answer to winning without solely relying on Sachin Tendulkar. The Mumbaikar did chip in with a 48-ball 52 but it was Kohli’s knock of 183 from 148 balls that won the match for India, thus giving them an outside chace to qualify for the final.

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#1 Undoubtedly his most important knock (vs Sri Lanka, Hobart, 2012)

When India faced Sri Lanka during the Commonwealth Bank series in 2012, India were required to chase down Sri Lanka’s total in 40 overs in order to gain a bonus point and thus stay in contention in the series. Centuries by Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara powered Sri Lanka to 320 and India looked down and out in the tournament.

While India’s top three of Sachi, Sehwag and Gambhir got the starts but couldn’t kick on, Kohli made the entire task look like a joke with his supreme stroke play and master class wrist play. The highlight of his 86-ball 133 that helped India chase dow the target with 80 balls to spare was when he smoked Lasith Malinga for 24 in an over.

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Edited by Staff Editor