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Former India captain Virat Kohli is set to celebrate a century on Wednesday (February 9) as soon as he takes the field in the second T20I against West Indies. At the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday he will become the fifth Indian player to make 100 ODI appearances on home turf. Kohli has so far played 99 ODI matches on Indian soil where he has amassed more than 5,000 runs, a record which was achieved in the previous encounter.
Yuvraj and Azharuddin also on the list
So far only four Indians have made 100 or more ODI appearances on home turf which includes Sachin Tendulkar (164), MS Dhoni (127), Mohammad Azharuddin (113) and Yuvraj Singh (108). Kohli will stand a great chance of leaving a few of these players behind on the list as he still has a few years of his playing career remaining. While Tendulkar's record remains at an arm's length, he did break one of Tendulkar's previous records for the fastest 5,000 ODI runs on Indian soil. Kohli took 99 matches to reach the accolade when he scored eight off four deliveries in the previous encounter, while it took 112 ODIs for Tendulkar to reach the same.
On the other hand, Kohli has gone without a ton for more than two years and would certainly try to mark the occasion with a three-figure mark. The last time Kohli scored an international century was in November 2019 against Bangladesh. Since then, the 33-year-old is yet to raise his bat for a ton in the post-pandemic period across formats. Overall, Kohli has played 258 ODIs and smashed 12,293 runs at an average of 58.83. The 33-year-old has played 99 Test matches and is scheduled to play his 100th match later this month in the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka.
Currently, Rohit Sharma's men lead the series 1-0 and will try to seal the deal on Wednesday (February 8) with a win. India won the opening encounter by six wickets thanks to the exploits of Yuzvendra Chahal as he scalped 49/4 in a match-winning performance.
