Stats: Virat Kohli's 46th ODI hundred

During that forgettable phase of 1028 days, when Virat Kohli struggled for a century across formats, amid dwindling form which led to him taking a month-long break. Former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar, among those ardent believers, had predicted that once Kohli manages to break free from the shackles, there would be no stopping for him. 

Since ending his drought with an unthinkable ton in T20Is last September, Kohli has now scored four centuries, three of which came in ODIs and two at the very start of 2023, both against Sri Lanka.

On Sunday, in the third and final ODI match of the series against Sri Lanka, at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, Kohli laced 10 boundaries and a solitary six in his 85-ball knock to score his 46th career ton in ODIs. He remains second in the all-time list in the format, but now stands just three away from levelling Sachin Tendulkar's magnificent record of 49 tons. He finished at a colossal 166 not out off just 110 balls.

With the ton, Kohli broke his own record and went past Sachin as well in the list of most tons against a single opponent. The former India captain now is the only ever batter to score 10 centuries against an ODI team, Sri Lanka. He also has nine tons against West Indies while Sachin has a similar tally against Australia. He also broke Sachin's record for most centuries at home. This was Kohli's 21st such knock in 101 innings in India. He had levelled Sachin in this list with his knock of 113 runs in the series opener earlier this week.

On reaching the half-century mark, Kohli joined former Australia captain Ricky Ponting and legendary South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis in the second spot for the most fifty-plus scores at home in ODI cricket. All three have 46 such scores to their name, standing only behind former India batter Sachin Tendulkar (58). Kohli's tally includes 20 centuries and 26 fifties.

En route to the mark, he also pipped Kallis (5186 runs) to become the third-highest run-getter at home in the format. Only Sachin (6976) and Ponting (5521) has more runs than Kohli at home.

The milestone that however stood out the most was Kohli making his way into the top-five run-getters in ODI cricket. On reaching the 64-run mark in his knock, Kohli surpassed Sri Lanka legend Mahela Jayawardene, who amassed 12650 runs in his illustrious career in 50-overs cricket. Kohli is now the second Indian in the list after top-scorer Sachin (18426). Others include Kumar Sangakkara (14234), Ponting (13704) and Sanath Jayasuriya (13430).