Netizens went into overdrive after premier India batter Virat Kohli surpassed Sachin Tendulkar to become the first men's cricketer to score 50 ODI centuries. The Delhi-born cricketer's milestone came during India's 2023 Cricket World Cup semifinal against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday.

 

The ex-India captain, who has been in red-hot form in the World Cup, looked scratchy at the start of his knock after arriving at the crease following the fall of Rohit Sharma.

But Rohit Sharma should be credited for allowing Virat Kohli to build his innings as he gave India a lightning-quick start.

Rohit Sharma came out all guns blazing at the start of the Indian innings, racing to 47 off 28 balls with the help of four sixes and an equal number of boundaries.

Rohit Sharma's blitzkrieg meant that the Men in Blue raced to 71/0 in just over eight overs before the India captain departed.

After Rohit Sharma perished, Virat Kohli joined Shubman Gill in the middle.

With Shubman Gill firing on all cylinders, the 35-year-old bided his time but kept the scoreboard ticking with singles, doubles, and occasional boundaries.

Slowly but steadily, Virat Kohli moved closer and closer to his 50th ODI hundred.

As things looked perfect, drama unfolded with Virat Kohli in his 90s. First, the New Zealand fielders missed a few opportunities to send him back to the pavilion, dropping half catches, and second, Virat Kohli suffered cramps.

Nonetheless, Virat Kohli got up and running and eventually brought up his ton in 106 balls.

After completing his 80th hundred in international cricket, Virat Kohli put his foot on the accelerator before getting dismissed for 117.

What's remarkable about Virat Kohli is that he brought up his 50th three-figure score in the 50-over format in 279 innings, while Sachin Tendulkar needed 451 essays for his 49.

Sachin Tendulkar was in the stands when Virat Kohli broke his record. The Master Blaster applauded the India talisman from the Wankhede Stadium's VIP gallery.

Furthermore, King Kohli broke Sachin Tendulkar's other record as he became the highest run-scorer in a single edition of the World Cup.

With his 117 against the Black Caps, he took his tally to 711 runs in the 2023 Cricket World Cup. On the other hand, Sachin Tendulkar made 673 in the 2003 edition in South Africa.

It was Virat Kohli's eighth fifty-plus score in the 2023 Cricket World Cup, making him the first man to do so in a single edition of the quadrennial event.

Sachin Tendulkar and Shakib Al Hasan had seven such scores in 2003 and 2019, respectively.

An over-the-moon Virat Kohli described the moment as the stuff of dreams before adding that he couldn't have chosen a better day to score his 50th ODI century.

“It's stuff of dreams, Anushka was sitting right there, Sachin paaji was there in the stands. I mean, it's very difficult for me to explain this, but if I could paint the perfect picture, I would want this to be the picture. My life partner, the person I love the most, she's sitting there. My hero, he's sitting there. And I was able to get the 50th in front of all of them and all these fans at Wankhede as well, such a historic venue. It was amazing,” Virat Kohli said during the innings break.

“I said it in Kolkata, the great man (Sachin Tendulkar) just congratulated me, all this feels like a dream for me, honestly. It's too good to be true, feels surreal, I never thought I'll be here ever in my career. Just to help the team so many times, again, a big game today, I had to kind of play the role I've played throughout the tournament so that the guys around me can go and express themselves. Just glad that everything came together so nicely and we put up a great total on the board as well,” Virat Kohli added.

“As I've said a lot of times before, the most important thing is to make my team win, and whatever it takes to do that, I'm ready to do that, whether it's running singles and doubles, hitting boundaries, whatever the team wants me to do. I've been given a role this tournament, and I'm trying to play that to the best of my ability, trying to dig deep, bat long, so that the others can play around me and have that confidence that I'm going into the later overs where I can dominate with the bat as well. That's the only key to consistency I guess, just playing according to the situation, playing for your team at all times,” the run-machine explained.