Regular service resumed for Virat Kohli after the World Cup as he slammed his 42nd ODI ton and the first since the beginning of the World Cup. Against his favoured opponents - West Indies, Kohli was in top form at Trinidad and blasted 120 in 125 balls to take India to 279.
Kohli closed in on Sachin Tendulkar's record of most tons against a single team (9 vs Australia) with his eighth ODI ton against West Indies. He also has eight hundreds in the format against Australia and Sri Lanka. The Indian skipper went past 2000 ODI runs against West Indies in the process and became the highest run-scorer against the country going past Javed Miandad.
In 35 ODIs against the Caribbean side, Kohli has an average of 72.57 with 18 scores above 50. He has only recorded 2000-plus runs against one other nation in the format - Sri Lanka.
At Trinidad, Kohli walked in after Dhawan fell in the very first over. The skipper raced away even as Rohit Sharma took his time to get off the mark. His half-century came off 57 balls and his century off 112 deliveries.
This is Kohli's 20th ton as skipper and sixth against West Indies, the most by a captain against any one team. Only Ricky Ponting has more hundreds as captain of a side (22). Given Kohli's incredible consistency in scoring tons, it is just a matter of time before he goes past the Australian.
Meanwhile, Kohli also closed in on Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI tons. He is now just seven hundreds away from equalling the Master Blaster for most tons in ODI cricket. While Tendulkar's 49 hundreds came in 463 ODIs, Kohli has taken just 238 matches to reach the same. This despite batting in the middle-order behind an exceptional set of openers.
With his latest ton, Kohli's slew of runs against West Indies in the last couple of years has touched Don Bradman levels. His last few innings against WI in ODIs (latest first) read: 120, 72, 33*, 16, 107, 157*, 140 and 111*.
Is it a matter of time before he reaches the half-century mark?
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Randy Brooks
