Virat Kohli brought up his 73rd international century in the first One Day International against Sri Lanka and his 45th in the 50-over format in Guwahati on Tuesday. India set a colossal 374-run target for the visitors, the foundation for which was set with a rollicking 143-run opening stand between Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill.

India won the match by 67 runs to take a 1-0 lead.

Most ODI tons (men's)

Player Innings Highest ODI tons
SR Tendulkar (IND) 452 200* 49
V Kohli (IND) 257 183 45
RT Ponting (AUS/ICC) 365 164 30
RG Sharma (IND) 229 264 29
ST Jayasuriya (Asia/SL) 433 189 28

KL Rahul also chipped in with a 29-ball 39 to add to Sri Lanka’s misery but it was eventually, a Kohli show that stole the headlines. After having a lean patch across formats, Kohli has returned in style, scoring back-to-back centuries in the format to end 2022 and start 2023. The previous ton came against Bangladesh in the third ODI at Chattogram. He had also ended the long drought for No 71 last year at Asia Cup.

His knock, laced with one six and twelve fours, wasn’t chanceless by any means as he was dropped twice - once on 52 by Kusal Mendis and then dropped on 81 by captain Dasun Shanaka. However, he made it count before he was eventually dismissed for 113 by K Rajitha in the 49th over but the knock had comfortably placed India in the driver’s seat by then.

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Here’s a look at the reactions to Kohli’s century:

Skipper Rohit Sharma (83) and fellow opener Shubman Gill (70) put on 143 runs to lay the foundations of the mammoth total. Kohli stood firm after the duo’s departure and, despite losing partners at the other end, took to the opposition attack.

The former captain let out a roar and tore off his helmet to bask in the stadium’s applause.

He finally fell to third-time-lucky quick Kasun Rajitha, who was also bowling when wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis and skipper Dasun Shanaka dropped the star batsman.

Rohit, who returned to captain the side after missing India’s 2-1 Twenty20 series win, reached his fifty with a four and Gill raised his half-century a short time later.

Gill took on Dunith Wellalage with three successive fours in one over before he fell lbw in the next to Shanaka’s medium-pace bowling.

Rohit attempted to keep up the attack with regular boundaries but Madushanka cut short his knock with a length ball that bowled the Indian skipper off an inside edge.

The rest of the innings belonged to Kohli, who has hit two successive ODI hundreds since coming out of an extended lean patch last year at Asia Cup.

(With AFP inputs)