Virat Kohli equals Sachin’s record with his consecutive second ODI ton against Sri Lanka

In addition to pushing India's total far above 350 on Tuesday at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati, Kohli reached two personal milestones, two related to batting icon and India's greatest batsman Sachin Tendulkar.

The drought of the last century feels like a long time ago. But, for the first time in more than three years, Virat Kohli has smashed back-to-back hundreds in ODI cricket, proving that he is alive and well.

After last scoring on November 23, 2019, when he hit a match-winning 136 against Bangladesh in the Pink Ball Test, Kohli went over a thousand days without scoring an international century until finally breaking the drought on September 8, 2022. Ultimately, he scored a century against Bangladesh in an ODI and continued his outstanding play with 113-run innings in 87 balls.

With the innings, which included 12 boundaries and one six, Kohli tied Sachin's incredible home century record. The two Indian batting powerhouses have amassed 20 tonnes at home thus far. However, Kohli accomplished it in 61 fewer innings than Sachin, who accumulated the total in 160 innings.

This was also Kohli's ninth century against Sri Lanka; in ODI cricket, he has nine centuries against the West Indies, making him the first player to have nine or more centuries against two opponents. Only one other batter, Sachin, did it when they faced Australia.

Kohli now has four tons to go before catching up to his idol's total in the 50-over format, although still being in second place behind Sachin in terms of most ODI and international tonnes. He is still 27 centuries shy of Sachin's 100 tonnes across all forms.

In the post-innings talk, Kohli said, "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,"