Virat Kohli becomes 1st Indian with 3 consecutive centuries in ODI cricket

Virat Kohli struck his third ODI ton

Image Courtesy: Twitter/@ICC

Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Saturday became the first Indian player to hit three consecutive hundreds on ODI cricket. He also became the first player to score centuries in four successive ODI innings against the opponent.

Kohli, who led team India in the third ODI against West Indies, had struck 140 runs off 107 balls in the first ODI against Windies. India had won the 1st match by 8 wickets.

The Indian skipper then scored 157 runs in the second match against the touring team. The second match however ended in a tie. 

The third match also saw Kohli in a clinical form when he struck 107 off 119 balls. Kohli had been dismissed twice in the series.

Prior to series with West Indies, Kohli had also struck a century against New Zealand in the ODI match. 

The record for most tons against an opponent in ODI cricket is still held by Sachin Tendulkar who has nine ODI centuries against Australia. 

Prior to this, Kohli achieved another milestone when he surpassed Sachin Tendulkar's record and became the fastest batsman to reach 10,000 runs in ODI cricket.

Kohli has accumulated 10,000 runs in just 205 innings with an average of 58.69 which is the highest in ODI cricket amongst batsmen who have played at least 50 matches. 

Legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar achieved the feat in 259 innings while Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting needed 263 and 266 innings respectively.

Kohli enjoys the unique distinction of scoring 15 more hundreds than Sachin Tendulkar after 205 innings in ODI Cricket. He also emerged as the second youngest batsman after the "Little Master" to aggregate 10,000 ODI runs in cricketing history. 

Kohli has been in excellent form for India in recent times especially during the away tour against England where he emerged as one of the highest run-getters. He has retained the same form during the ODI series against West Indies despite being rested for the Asia Cup.

The 29-year-old cricketer will be looking to ensure more of the same in the upcoming clashes against the West Indies and the tour of Australia thereafter.