Can Virat Kohli Break Sachin Tendulkar’s Record Of 100 Iinternational Centuries?

When Sachin Tendulkar retired from international cricket many thought that the popularity of the game will diminish. Especially in India, where Tendulkar is regarded as the ‘God of Cricket’. But as Sachin was bidding goodbye to cricket, a young man from Delhi slowly but surely was making his mark.

Virat Kohli quickly became the heart of the Indian batting line up once Tendulkar departed. When in one of the event after Tendulkar retired he was asked do you think anybody will break your record of 100 centuries? The Little Master without any hesitation picked Kohli as of the two who could achieve that impossible feat.

Then, it certainly looked impractical that anybody will score 100 tons like Tendulkar. But then again records are meant to be broken. Kohli transformed himself to a talented young batsman to a modern master. It felt as if Tendulkar had given a secret code to Kohli about how to make hundreds.

Can Virat Kohli break Tendulkar 100 centuries record?

Virat Kohli today is in a league of his own when it comes to scoring those magical three digits. At only 31 years of age, the Indian captain already has 70 international centuries to his name. He certainly is on his way of eclipsing Tendulkar’s mega feat of 100 tons.

Several former great players have pointed out that Kohli will indeed break Tendulkar’s record. With pitches now more in favour of the batsman and an added advantage of playing T20I, Kohli is certainly the prime contender to break the record. Here are the overall numbers of both Tendulkar and Kohli.

Tendulkar: 664 matches, 34,357 runs, 48.52 average, 100 centuries
Kohli: 416 matches, 21,901 runs, 56.15 average, 70 centuries

These numbers make a very clear picture of the fact that Kohli could easily surpass Tendulkar. He will certainly play for another 6-7 years. Another 30 centuries is not at all a difficult task for someone of Kohli’s stature.

A look at their numbers in Tests and ODI cricket

Tendulkar in Tests and ODIs:

Tests: 200 Matches, 15921 runs, 53.8 average, 51 100s
ODI: 463 matches, 18426 runs, 44.8 average, 49 100s

Kohli in Tests and ODIs:

Tests: 86 matches, 7240 runs, 53.6 average, 27 100s
ODIs: 248 matches, 11867 runs, 59.3 average, 43 100s

From these numbers, one can determine that Virat Kohli will not break Tendulkar’s record for runs in both formats. But when we are talking about overall hundreds, Kohli is closing in on that. It is a matter of time when he goes ahead of the legendary batsman in ODIs. Whereas when Test cricket is concerned he has an outside chance of getting close to Tendulkar’s 51 tons.

Now let’s have a look at the centuries and runs and Tons of both from the age of 20-30 years in both formats:

In Tests:

Tendulkar: 89 matches, 7948 runs, average 47.47, 28 100s
Kohli: 82 matches, 7066 runs, average 54.77, 26 100s

Very close numbers as Tendulkar is slightly ahead in both the hundreds and runs columns. But Kohli has played 7 fewer Test matches which would have made the numbers even. These statistics suggest if Kohli can continue his form, he will have almost similar hundreds as compared to Tendulkar. He may not end up with more Test runs than Tendulkar but the three digits score could be identical.

Now let’s have a look at their ODI runs and Tons between the age of 20-30:

Tendulkar: 277 matches, 11614 runs, 47.21 average, 37 100s
Kohli: 234 matches, 11361 runs, 61.08 average, 43 100s

Now, this is remarkable as both have almost identical numbers even in ODIs. Kohli’s average is remarkable but when it comes to runs, Tendulkar is ahead. However, Kohli is ahead of Tendulkar by six tons. This tells us that if Kohli can play similar to what he did in the last decade, he is going to sail past Tendulkar’s record.

But then again even Virat Kohli is human and one should take into consideration that injuries start to follow a player after he touches 30 years of age. Bad form, injuries and several other factors may derail Kohli’s express in ODIs. However, one can easily say that Kohli has done enough to stay ahead of Tendulkar when it comes to ODI numbers.

The biggest advantage Kohli has that he consistently plays T20I’s also for India. Even though he hasn’t scored a ton in the shortest format, he has shown in the Indian Premier League that he can do it. In 2016, Kohli scored 4 IPL hundreds in one season and overall has 5 three-digit scores.

Here are the overall number of Kohli in T20 Internationals:

82 matches, 2794 runs, 50.8 average, 24 50s, SR 138.2

One thing everyone can certainly expect that Kohli will ultimately score a T20I ton. Sachin Tendulkar in his career did not have the luxury of playing T20Is. If he had played and opened the innings he would have certainly scored many hundreds.

To answer the question of whether Virat Kohli will go past Tendulkar’s records of 100 centuries. The answer to this as of now is Yes. He is certainly on his way and could go past the record in the coming 5 years. Sachin Tendulkar once also said that he would want any India to go past his records. Virat Kohli has certainly answered that call and could become the first-ever player to score in excess of 100 centuries.