Fans on the internet went wild after Virat Kohli matched Sachin Tendulkar's world record of most centuries in ODI cricket in India's World Cup fixture against South Africa in Kolkata on Sunday.

 

The iconic Eden Gardens, packed to the raptures, was treated to a Virat Kohli masterclass as the premier India batter again anchored the home team's innings with an unbeaten 101 off 121 balls, powering them to 326/5 in their allocated 50 overs.

 

Before Virat Kohli landed in the city of joy, he was one behind his idol Sachin Tendulkar, who ended his illustrious career with 49 tons.

 

However, the 35-year-old looked determined to score a hundred in West Bengal after arriving at the crease after the fall of captain Rohit Sharma's wicket.

 

Rohit Sharma gave India a flying start, but once he perished, the pitch started playing tricks, with the spinners getting a lot of purchase out of it.

 

The Delhi-born cricketer bided his time, focusing on taking singles and doubles to keep the scorecard moving.

 

Eventually, Virat Kohli accelerated at the fag-end of the Indian essay, completing a memorable hundred on his 35th birthday.

 

With his heroics at the Eden Gardens, Virat Kohli joined Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli in a select list of Indian players who have made centuries on their birthdays in ODIs.

 

Notably, Sachin Tendulkar produced one of the best knocks of his career against Australia in Sharjah, known as the desert storm, on his birthday in 1998.

 

Overall, King Kohli is only the seventh cricketer to hit a hundred on his birthday across formats in international cricket.

 

Besides Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, and Vinod Kambli, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mitchell Marsh, Ross Taylor, and Tom Latham have scored centuries on their respective birthdays. 

 

With his unbeaten 101 off 121 balls, Virat Kohli took his tally of tons in international cricket to 79. He has 29 centuries in Tests and one in T20Is. 

 

It was his second hundred in the 2023 Cricket World Cup, having previously reached the three-figure mark against Bangladesh.

Legendary India spinner Harbhajan Singh described Virat Kohli's hundred as the best gift for a nation of over a billion people.

“It was supposed to happen on his birthday. This is the biggest gift he has given to the whole nation on his birthday. He's got many more to come. He's a champion player and is probably the fittest player in the team. He looks like a 25-year-old guy. He's going to break many more records. He deserves to break a lot more records going forward,” Harbhajan Singh said.

 

“These records just don't come by. In his era, he is by far the best. Knowing Kohli and his commitment towards the team, he puts the team first over his own achievements. This wicket got slower and it wasn't easy for new batters to come in and start playing shots. Suryakumar also struggled a bit and so did KL Rahul. It wasn't easy to bat which is why Kohli had to be there till the end to get India to a good score,” Harbhajan Singh added. 

Earlier, Virat Kohli underscored his accomplishments, stating he never thought his cricketing journey would have so many highlights.

 

“If we talk about cricket, I had never thought of achieving all, as in where my career is and how god has blessed me such a career span and performances. I had always dreamt I'd do this, but I had never thought thing would pan out this way exactly, nobody can plan these things, the way your journey is going, and the way things unfold in front of you. I hadn't thought that I'd score so many hundreds and so many runs in these 12 years,” Virat Kohli told Star Sports.

 

“My only focus was that I should perform well for the team, and win games for the team from difficult situations. For that I mad quite a few changes along the way regarding discipline and lifestyle. I always had the drive in me, but I lacked the professionalism. Now I have a single-minded focus on how I want to play the game, and after that the results I've achieved is from playing that way itself,” he explained. 

 

“The game recognizes effort. Honestly, that's what I have learnt from my career. I've played cricket by giving my hundred percent on the field, and the blessings I have got from it have been given to me by god, and I had never thought things would have unfolded this way,” Virat Kohli underlined.

 

Speaking about India's match against South Africa, the Men in Blue registered a dominant 243-run win over the Proteas, with the world-class Indian bowling line-up producing another spectacular show to bowl out their opponents for a paltry score of 83.

 

Ravindra Jadeja was the pick of the Indian bowlers, having finished the match with figures of 5/33, while Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav grabbed two each.