For just the eleventh time in his career, Virat Kohli has scored successive ODI tons, taking his tally to 53, and overall count to 84 – can he reach the elusive club of 100 international centuries?
For those waking up from a slumber, here’s the context: Kohli, who plays just one format, turned 37 last month. Having bid adieu to Tests and T20Is, he took the field for India after more than seven months during the Australia series in October, where he started with back-to-back ducks. He silenced naysayers with an unbeaten 74 in the third ODI, before smashing two hundreds in as many games against South Africa, to begin his preparation for the 2027 World Cup in style.
With dwindling games in the bag and the aim of a hundred international centuries in sight, can the India maestro become just the second batter to the milestone?
Although his recent form has been encouraging, achieving the milestone appears highly unlikely.
What is India’s upcoming ODI schedule?
After the third ODI against South Africa, India will host New Zealand for three ODIs in January. In 2026, India are scheduled to play 18 ODIs across six three-match series, bringing the confirmed total to 19 matches.
The first half of 2027 will see India engaged in a five-Test series against Australia, followed by the IPL, leaving little room for ODIs. The Asia Cup, expected to precede the World Cup, may offer a maximum of six matches based on the format of the last 50-over edition, bringing the total to 25 games.
Ahead of the World Cup, India may also play a few bilateral ODI series; if we assume three series of three matches each, the tally rises to 34. The World Cup itself allows a maximum of 11 matches for the finalists, meaning Kohli could have 45 ODIs to close the gap.
While there is no guarantee that he will retire after the tournament – he could well choose to continue playing – realistically, the odds of that remain slim.
So, that’s a maximum of 45 games to score 16 hundreds: can he get there?
Can Kohli score 16 hundreds in the next 45 ODIs?
Kohli, who made his debut in 2008, has played 307 ODIs and scored a ton in every 5.79 matches. He first scored a hundred in December 2009. Since then, the equation has improved slightly, to 5.54 games for a century.
At the current rate, he will be able to score nine hundreds in his next 45 ODIs, taking his overall tally in the 90s, but still well short of the 100-mark.
If we consider recent form, Kohli has scored nine tons in his last 42 matches, or a ton every 4.66 matches, slightly better than his career rate of centuries per match. Still not good enough for the feat.
In fact, Kohli would fall well short even if he were to replicate his golden form, between 2016 and 2019, when he scored 4,778 runs in 76 ODIs at an average of 80.98 with 20 hundreds, scoring a hundred every 3.8 games. Currently, Kohli needs a ton in every 2.81 innings - meaning 1.35 times more frequently than he did back then, increasing his century conversion rate from 26.3 per cent between 2016 to 2019, to 35.6 per cent in the next 45 matches.
Kohli has done the improbable in his career. It has defined the athlete that he is: race your mind back to THAT six against Pakistan at Melbourne. However, this seems a little too out of reach, even for his lofty standards.
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