Kohli hits 55th ODI ton, breaks two Tendulkar records

Virat Kohli once again showed his batting class in the first ODI against West Indies in Thiruvananthapuram. Chasing a target of 296 to win, Kohli completed his century in just 74 balls with 6 fours and 6 sixes. It was the 55th century of his ODI career. Notably, Kohli completed his hundred with a six, and it also became his fastest ODI century against West Indies.

Kohli did not stop after reaching his century. He went on to score an unbeaten 139 off 88 balls, more aggressively, including 10 fours and 9 sixes. His strike rate stood at 157.95. Powered by this innings, India won the first ODI by 8 wickets.

During this innings, Kohli also broke two major records of Sachin Tendulkar. First, Kohli took over Tendulkar's record for the fastest 15,000 runs in ODI cricket. Kohli became the second batter in the world after Tendulkar to reach the 15,000-run mark in ODIs, but the record for reaching this milestone the fastest now belongs to Kohli. Tendulkar has a total of 18,426 runs in ODI cricket. With this 55th ODI century, Kohli's tally of centuries in international cricket has risen to 86. Tendulkar holds the record for the most centuries in international cricket with 100, and Kohli will need 14 more centuries to equal that record.

The second major record now held by Kohli is for the most ODI runs scored on the soil of a single country. Kohli has completed 7,006 runs in ODI cricket on Indian soil, becoming the first batter in the world to score 7,000 ODI runs in one country. This record was previously held by Tendulkar, who scored 6,976 runs in ODI cricket while playing in India. Kohli has surpassed him to claim this record. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting is third on this list, having scored 5,521 runs in ODI cricket on Australian soil.

Kohli's innings in the first ODI against West Indies was significant not just for India's win, but also proved historic for his own record book. His 55th ODI century, 15,000 ODI runs, and 7,000 runs in one country all became part of his record on this day.