IND vs SA, 1st ODI: Virat Kohli breaks Sachin Tendulkar’s record with historic 52nd ODI century in series opener against South Africa

India's batting great Virat Kohli took 102 balls to smash his 52nd ODI century in the first ODI against South Africa at Ranchi.

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Virat Kohli celebrates after scoring a century (100 runs) during the first one-day international (ODI) cricket match between India and South Africa at the JSCA International Stadium

Virat Kohli celebrates after scoring a century (100 runs) during the first one-day international (ODI) cricket match between India and South Africa at the JSCA International Stadium

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Virat Kohli smashed 83rd international century in 1st ODI vs South Africa.

Virat Kohli smashed 52nd ODI century against South Africa.

India's batting great Virat Kohli smashed his 52nd ODI century during the first ODI against South Africa at JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi. The modern-day great took 102 balls to reach the 100-run mark, including seven fours and five sixes. The  batting great completed the century with a boundary, and with his century, he surpassed cricketing god Sachin Tendulkar to smash the most centuries against South Africa. 

Tendulkar smashed five ODI centuries against the Proteas, and as Kohli smashed a century in the first ODI, he completed six against South Africa which is most by any Indian batter

Virat Kohli now has 83 international centuries, with 30 in Test matches, 52 in One Day Internationals (ODIs), and 1 in Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). He is the second-highest scorer of international centuries behind Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli's last century came in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in a Group Stage clash against Pakistan at Dubai International Stadium in Dubai. 

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Ro-Ko breaks Tendulkar and Dravid's record

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli stitched a 136-run stand in the series opener against South Africa, and the duo became the pair to play the most international matches together in Indian cricket history. The Sachin-Dravid pair had played 391 international matches together, which is a record to date. The Rohit-Kohli pair has also reached 391 matches before Ranchi, and now they have batted with each other 392 times. 

Rank Pair Matches
1 Rohit Sharma-Virat Kohli 392+
2 Sachin Tendulkar-Rahul Dravid 391
3 Rahul Dravid-Sourav Ganguly 369
4 Sachin Tendulkar-Anil Kumble 367
5 Sachin Tendulkar-Sourav Ganguly 341
6 Virat Kohli-Ravindra Jadeja 309

Most International Appearances as a Pair

550 - Mahela Jayawardene & Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)

426 - Mahela Jayawardene & Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka)

418 - Kumar Sangakkara & Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka)

408 - Sanath Jayasuriya & Muthiah Muralidaran (Sri Lanka)

407 - Jacques Kallis & Mark Boucher (South Africa)

392* - Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli (India)
 

IND vs SA 1st ODI

South Africa's captain Aiden Markram won the toss and elected to field against India; the visitors have rested skipper Temba Bavuma and spinner Keshav Maharaj. For India, who are without regular skipper Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma will open with Yashasvi Jaiswal. The hosts have gone with three spinners and as many pacers.

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