Virat Kohli became only the second man after AB de Villiers to score a century in his 200th One-Day International match as he powered India to 280 for 8 in their opening match against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
In doing so, Kohli also surpassed Ricky Ponting on the list of players with the highest number of ODI centuries. The Indian skipper now has 31 centuries, and only lies behind Sachin Tendulkar, who has 49 centuries in the format to his name.
Twitter could only celebrate the genius of the man, who now has an ODI century every 6.5 innings.
Batsmen to score a ton in their 200th ODI
— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) October 22, 2017
AB de Villiers v Eng at Cape Town in 2016
VIRAT KOHLI v NZ at Mumbai in 2017#Virat200 #INDvNZ
200th game, 31st century. Tremendous class. Pleasure watching Kohli become the giant he now is.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 22, 2017
After 200 games, Kohli has 8888 runs at sn average of 55.55 .
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) October 22, 2017
What a brilliant 121 this one was. 280 is a fighting total.#INDvNZ
Always regretted that I couldn't follow the legend Sachin's career since the very start, thank you for the replay Virat Kohli. pic.twitter.com/9Viq2vceiD
— Sand-d Singh (@Sand_In_Deed) October 22, 2017
Admire,admire n applaud.What a player Virat Kohli. Milestone or not Virat always makes a mark. Brilliant 100 again! #Virat200 @BCCI #IndvNZ
— Anjum Chopra (@chopraanjum) October 22, 2017
What do we say about King Kohli.
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) October 22, 2017
Thats 100 no. 31 in his 200th ODI. Stellar numbers and an incredible hunger for runs.#indvsnz
Michael Vaughan knows his numbers and Kohli’s too, clearly in awe of the latter’s statistics.
200 games .. 8888 runs .. Ave 55.55 .. #Freak @imVkohli .. #JustSaying
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) October 22, 2017
Indian batting legend VVS Laxman feels that the Indian cricket captain could continue in this vein for the next 9-10 years. Opposition teams better watch out!
No.31 for Virat Kohli.What unbelievable consistency. Only 200 matches thus far, sky is the limit for what he will achieve in next 9-10 yrs
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) October 22, 2017
Sanjay Manjrekar attributed the century to Kohli’s mental and physical fitness. The commentator paid a, err...fitting tribute to the man from Delhi.
That innings of Virat Kohli was about exemplary fitness. Mental and physical!👏👏👏🙏🙏🙏#ViratKohli
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) October 22, 2017
There were jokes too, and good ones. Among them were references to Kohli’s teeth. One can only hope for accuracy’s sake that Kohli does have the full set of 32.
One more, and Virat Kohli will have as many ODI hundreds as teeth. #IndvsNZ
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) October 22, 2017
Virat Kohli will be remembered for Centuries #IndvNz
— InGenious (@Bees_Kut) October 22, 2017
ODI century #31 for Kohli in his 200th match. I think he’s getting the hang of it. #INDvNZ
— mark butcher (@markbutcher72) October 22, 2017