India talisman Virat Kohli broke a series of Sachin Tendulkar records on his way to his 45th century against Sri Lanka in Guwahati, sparking a flurry of memes on Twitter on Tuesday.

Among the major Sachin Tendulkar world records, Virat Kohli shattered during his sensational innings against Lankan Lions was to become the fastest to reach 45 hundreds and 12,500 runs in One-Day Internationals.

While Sachin Tendulkar needed 424 innings to complete 45 tons in ODIs, the Delhi-born batter only required 257 knocks to get there. Additionally, Virat Kohli achieved 12,500 runs in 257 ODI innings, ahead of the Little Master who did it in 310.

Virat Kohli also has the most centuries in international cricket as a non-opener.

Besides the above-mentioned milestones, he became the first man to score at least nine centuries against two different teams in ODI cricket.

Previously, both Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar had 9 tons each against West Indies and Australia respectively. The legendary cricketers had collected 8 hundreds each against Sri Lanka as well. But with his century against Dasun Shanaka and his men, Virat Kohli now stands alone in the list with 9 centuries against both Sri Lanka and West Indies.

The 34-year-old matched Sachin Tendulkar's record of making the most number of centuries on home soil as well. Both Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli now have 20 tons each in India.

The number of knocks Virat Kohli took to reach there though was far less compared to Sachin Tendulkar. While Little Master needed 160 innings to hit 20 hundreds in ODIs at home, the India No.3 accomplished the feat in only 99 knocks.

Virat Kohli came out at the crease after captain Rohit Sharma and his opening partner Shubman Gill gave India a blistering start with both men making fifties. The youngster Shubman Gill was the first to fall after scoring a quickfire 70 off 60 balls. Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, looked good to hit a hundred but played on to be dismissed for 83 off 67 deliveries.

Virat Kohli, meanwhile, began his innings in impressive fashion with a couple of straight drives for boundaries straight down the ground. Once Rohit Sharma left, the Delhi-born cricketer played the sheet anchor's role to perfection as he took singles and doubles and struck an odd boundary to keep the scoreboard ticking.

But once India neared the 300-run mark, Virat Kohli upped the tempo and subsequently brought up his 45th hundred in the 50-over format. It was the 34-year-old's second successive century in ODIs after he ended a three-year wait for a ton in the second shortest version of the game in Bangladesh last year.

After failing to cross the hundred mark in over a thousand days, Virat Kohli has now made three tons in the last 4 months, beginning with his maiden T20I century against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup in the UAE in September. It was also Kohli's 73 ton in international cricket. He's only behind Sachin Tendulkar in terms of international hundreds. Tendulkar is the only cricketer to smash 100 hundreds on the global stage.

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Virat Kohli was extremely happy with his maiden knock of 2023 before revealing that he was confident of making a big score as he was striking the ball well in the nets.

“I have had a bit of break, and a couple of practice sessions coming into this game, so I was fresh after that Bangladesh tour. I was excited for the home season to start. The openers allowed me to get into the game and I tried to keep my strike rate in check. I was happy I was able to maintain the tempo and we finished with 370,” Virat Kohli told the host broadcaster of the series, Star Sports, at the end of India's innings.

Meanwhile, cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar backed Virat Kohli to overtake Sachin Tendulkar's record of 49 centuries in ODI cricket.

“I have no doubt that he will overtake Sachin Tendulkar in one-day hundreds. The Test hundreds, that would be a big mountain to climb. In this format, he is an all-time great, not to say that he is not a Test match great. He just needs 4 hundreds to equal Tendulkar in ODIs whereas, in Tests, Tendulkar has 51 hundreds. I hope he carries that ambition and aspiration to get there. But 49, I am sure may be will happen in a year and a half,” Sanjay Manjrekar said.

“See what's happened in the last couple of years, we have been talking that Virat Kohli has been out of form. He has been getting the one big knock which has promoted celebrations and talks like ‘King is back' and that Kohli has found his mojo. And then what happens is there would be another run of low scores, then another good innings would come.”

“Today (on Tuesday), the passion was there, the smile was back when he was celebrating the hundred. I got the impression that he wanted this badly, for the form to stay with him, not just one innings and then getting out for 3-4 innings.”

“This is two consecutive hundreds, which is a great sign. For the greats of Indian batting like Kohi and Tendulkar, hundreds came one after the other,” Sanjay Manjrekar summed up.