KEY POINTS

  • Virat Kohli is one century away from going past Ricky Ponting
  • India are set to host England in 3 ODIs, starting Tuesday
  • All the ODIs will be played in Pune, India

Virat Kohli will aim to equal or break Sachin Tendulkar’s world record during India’s upcoming One-Day International (ODI) series against England, starting Tuesday. All the matches are set to take place at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune.

One of the legendary figures in the world of cricket, Tendulkar, holds several records in the game. He has scored more international centuries (100) and runs than any other batsman. While he has proved his worth across the globe, he also holds the record of scoring the most number of ODI centuries at home.

Having played 164 ODIs at home, between 1990 and 2011, Tendulkar had struck 20 centuries on the home soil. Overall, he scored 18,426 runs in 463 ODIs at an average of 44.83, including 49 centuries during his 23-year-old career in the 50-over format for Team India.

Indian skipper Kohli has always been compared to Tendulkar and is believed to break the legend’s records. The batsman is one century away from equaling Tendulkar’s world record of most ODI centuries at home. In 92 ODI innings at home, Kohli has registered 19 centuries so far.

Kohli could find his name in history books if he scores a century or two in the three-match ODI series against England, which will be played at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune, a city in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.

The recently concluded five-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series against England saw Kohli finally return to form. He had a quiet Test series, where he had managed to score a total of 172 runs in four Tests. However, Kohli has not scored an international century since India’s maiden day-night Test in November 2019, which was against Bangladesh in Kolkata, the capital of India's West Bengal state.

Kohli’s century drought in the ODIs stretches even more as he has not scored in the triple digits since India's series against West Indies in August 2019.

The 32-year-old cricketer, who was handed India’s charge in the limited-overs in 2017, has led India in as many as 92 ODIs and 45 T20Is. Meanwhile, in the longest format of the game, Kohli has captained India in 60 Tests.

Ahead of the first ODI Tuesday, Kohli is eyeing to go past Australian great Ricky Ponting in a prestigious record in international cricket.

In the list of most number of international centuries as captain, Kohli is currently tied with Australia’s legendary skipper Ponting. Both have scored 41 tons each while captaining their respective sides. Ponting, who captained Australia between 2002 and 2012, scored over 15,000 runs in 324 matches in that period, across formats, with 209 being his highest individual score.

Ever-reliable India skipper Virat Kohli cruised to his 58th ODI half century in a 102-run partnership with Shreyas Iyer
Virat Kohli averages over 50 across formats for India AFP / MICHAEL BRADLEY

Having led India in 197 international matches so far, Kohli has scored 12,000-plus runs as captain with an unbeaten 254 being his highest score.