Virat Kohli, a seasoned campaigner

Zee Media Bureau/Chaitan Papnai

Napier: It seems, for dashing Delhi batsman Virat Kohli, scoring a century has become a habit. The lad has done it once again, this time against New Zealand in the first ODI at Napier. His 18th ODI hundred came in his 119th innings, making him the fastest batsman in the world to reach the milestone. Before him the batsman who possessed this record was another Indian Sourav Ganguly, who took 174 innings to achieve the feat. Kohli is playing in New Zealand for the very first time in his career, and scoring a hundred in the first ODI of the five-match series is an achievement in itself. In his 123-run knock, he used merely 111 balls, studded with 11 boundaries and two sixes. The 25-year-old has ODI centuries in all the nine countries he played in, except South Africa. He is taking big strides forward with every passing series. His biggest plus is his consistency. The ability to score runs in any given condition and against any opponent makes him even more dangerous. Once he gets a good start, he converts it into a big one, more often. From critics to opponents, everyone finds it difficult to point out a weakness in his nearly flawless batting. He has almost every shot in his arsenal, which gives him an added advantage even while facing the best bowlers in the world. Kohli plays fast bowlers as well as spinners equally well and his quality to shift gears whenever needed makes him a complete batsman. Having so many qualities is probably the reason why he has been seen as the successor of batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar. So far, Kohli has successfully filled that void left by Tendulkar, at least in the limited format of the game. He is still 25 and has a long way to go. If he keeps performing with such consistency, days are not far away when he would emerge as the top contender to break all the records set by his predecessor.