Delhi: In the last few years, whenever Virat Kohli made a big record of 100 or more runs, not only his own records came into discussion, but most of all his records were compared directly to Sachin Tendulkar. Such comparisons have become a habit. In this comparison, the question never arose whether he would equal Tendulkar’s record of 100 in international cricket? The reason for this was Virat’s slowing down in scoring 100 and also his playing only in one format after retiring from T20 and Test.

Even then, as soon as Virat scored 100 in the first two ODIs against South Africa and his international century count reached 84, that old question was stirred again. Now there is a difference of 16 centuries between the two and while Virat is trying to extend his career till the 2027 World Cup, will he be able to equal Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 100 centuries during this period?

Kohli made a great comeback against South Africa

Virat’s tally of 30 Tests and one century in T20 International is not going to change. He has 53 centuries in ODIs and when he scored consecutive centuries against South Africa in Ranchi and Raipur, it was the 11th time in Virat Kohli’s career when he scored consecutive centuries in ODIs. If South Africa had given a bigger target in Vizag, a 100 could have been scored and then the difference would have reduced further. Well that didn’t happen.

How many chances can Virat get?

So now let’s rephrase the question: Target is 100 international centuries, out of which 16 centuries are needed. For this, his age cannot be ignored because now he is 37 years old. Talking about the opportunity, everyone knows how much interest India is taking in playing ODI? When they played against Australia in October this year, it was actually their first match in almost 7 months. In that too, both were out on 0 in the first match. Then no one talked about the setback to the hopes of scoring a record of 100 centuries, but now the discussion started as soon as two centuries were scored.

How much chance does Virat have to equal this record?

After the series against South Africa, the remaining matches which we are writing about, assume that Virat will play in all of them:

• 3 ODIs in India against New Zealand in January 2026
• India has to play a total of 18 ODIs in 6 series of 3 matches in 2026.
• There is no program for the ODI series in the first half of 2027 and according to the calendar, there will be hardly any days left for ODIs.
• Asia Cup, if played on 50 over format then maximum 6 matches can be played
• In this way a total of 24 matches were played

It is quite possible that keeping the 2027 World Cup in mind, BCCI will organize two-three ODI series with two teams. If we count three such 3-match series, the number of matches will be 33. If the final is played in the World Cup, then 11 matches i.e. Virat Kohli has a total of 44 ODIs to reach Tendulkar’s 100 centuries. If he does not retire or become a British citizen before that, will he score 16 centuries in the next 44 matches?

What does the speed of scoring a century say?

Till now, he has scored 53 centuries in 307 ODIs i.e. an average of one century in every 5.8 matches and if the same youthful enthusiasm continues then according to this, he will be able to score maximum 8 centuries in the next 44 ODIs. The total count will be around 90 centuries, but the count of 100 will remain far away. If we look at recent form, Virat Kohli has scored 9 centuries in his last 43 matches or one century every 4.78 matches, which is better than his career rate but not enough for this record.

Keeping this entire calculation in mind, the destination of 100 centuries is far away for Virat Kohli. However, whether he scores 90 centuries or 100 centuries, there will be no change in the opinion of how much better a batsman he is.