 "Virat Kohli Vs Sachin Tendulkar: Who Has Smashed Most Match-Winning ODI HUNDREDS? Check Here")
Virat Kohli completed his 48th ODI hundred vs Bangladesh in the ongoing Cricket World Cup 2023 to pull off another successful chase. He was nearing yet another hundred in the next match vs New Zealand but missed it by just 5 runs. Had Virat scored these 5 runs, he would have come at par with none other than Sachin Tendulkar, who has 49 hundreds to his name. However, it is a matter of time for Virat to not just equal the great Tendulkar but also go past him, as far as most ODI hundreds records is concerned.
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There is a huge chance Tendulkar’s ODI tons record is tumbled in the World Cup itself as India still have four matches to go in the league stage and 2 more matches potentially in the semi-finals and the final.
Virat might be one short of Tendulkar’s tally but the impact his hundreds have created on the performance of the team has been more. Out of the 48 tons he has smashed for India in this format so far, 40 have resulted in wins. Tendulkar hit 49 in total out of which 33 of them came in a winning cause. Clearly, Virat has hit more match-winning hundreds that Tendulkar.
Sachin Tendulkar’s match-winning 98 against Pakistan in 2003 has been voted by you into the last 16 of @bira91‘s @cricketworldcup Greatest Moments competition! pic.twitter.com/6XbQFO6NSz
— ICC (@ICC) April 12, 2019
Virat Kohli slams his 48th ODI ton in an emphatic India win in Pune _@mastercardindia Milestones _#CWC23 | #INDvBAN pic.twitter.com/3WoTTGy0f8
— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) October 19, 2023
This is not comparing the greatness of the two absolute batting legends that the country has produced. However, it is important to put in perspective the impact of the hundreds that the two have scored. At the same time, while Kohli has even more number of impactful hundreds than Tendulkar, it must also be mentioned that Indian cricket team of today are world beaters while Tendulkar used to play in a team which was still emerging in the ODIs. Tendulkar’s 33 match-winning hundreds are a huge achievement, if one looks at from the same lens.
In terms of most international hundreds (across formats) in a winning cause, Kohli (54) is just behind former Australia captain Ricky Ponting (55). Sachin is at third in the list with 53 match-winning tons. Hashim Amla of South Africa is at fourth with 40 centuries while AB de Villiers, with 37, is on fiftt spot.
What next for Kohli?
Kohli has four matches left in the league stage of the ongoing World Cup. Up next are a strong England side whose bowlers are struggling in the Indian conditions. Kohli will need to watch out for just one bowler, and his name is Adil Rashid. The star Indian batter has had his struggles against leg-spin bowling and England will surely look to target Kohli with Rashid right from the start.