CHITTAGONG: Star Indian batter Virat Kohli on Saturday surpassed former Australian captain Ricky Ponting in the list of batters with the most international centuries, courtesy of his magnificent 113 against Bangladesh in the third ODI.
Following his 85-ball century, Kohli joined a legendary list of batters with the most international centuries, led by India’s batting great Sachin Tendulkar (100), followed by Kohli (72*) and Ponting (71).
Kohli, who came out to bat when India were dealing with a deplorable start; losing their opener Shikhar Dhawan at a mere score of five runs and turned things around with Ishan Kishan, who went on to score the fastest double century in men’s ODIs.
The former Indian captain put on an astounding 290-run partnership with Kishan, during which he also brought up his 44th ODI century.
Notably, Kohli’s 44th ton came after a prolonged drought of three years with his last hundred in 50 overs format was against West Indies in 2019.
Following his century, Kohli also became the first batter to score thousand or more runs against Bangladesh in ODIs.
It is pertinent to mention that Kohli had a frustrating wait for his 71st international century as he failed to amass the feat for almost three years before finally breaking the drought against Afghanistan in the recently-held ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.
Meanwhile, Kishan’s double century and Kohli’s ton propelled India to hammer Bangladesh by a massive margin of 227 runs as the hosts bundled out for a mere 182 in response to India’s mammoth 409/8.
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