IND vs SL, 1st ODI: Virat Kohli eyes Sachin Tendulkar's elite feat in series opener in Guwahati

India will kick off their ODI World Cup preparations, to be held later this year in India, with the three-match ODI series versus Sri Lanka. The series gets underway on Tuesday (January 10) with the first ODI set to be held at theBarsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati. With the commencement of the series, India will see the return of their big players such as regular captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul whereas Hardik Pandya, who captained in the SL T20Is, will also be playing his first T20I after July 2022.

Ahead of the series opener, King Kohli will aim to match Sachin Tendulkar's elite feat.Master Blaster had a stellar international career and ended with several records. The legendary cricketer holds the record for most ODI hundreds at home, with 20 in 164 matches. Kohli, on the other hand, follows suit in the list with 19 tons in just 101 matches. However, his last home triple-figure knock in the formatcame in March 2019 against Australia. Kohli, who scored a century the last time he played an ODI for India (in the Bangladesh series in December 2022), will equal Tendulkar with most ODI hundreds on home soil if he touches the 100-run mark in the SL series opener.

MOST ODI HUNDREDS AT HOME

Sachin Tendulkar - 20 in 164 ODIs

Virat Kohli - 19 in 101 ODIs

Hashim Amla - 14 in 69 ODIs

Ricky Ponting - 13 in 153 ODIs

Ross Taylor - 12 in 110 ODIs

Kohli is also level with Tendulkar for most hundreds scored in ODIs against Sri Lanka. The former captain has amassed 2,220 runs against the 1996 champions at60 with 8 centuries. Meanwhile, Tendulkar also has an equal number of hundreds butsits atop withthe most runs in ODIs between the two Asian giants (3,113 runs in 84 matches).

MOST HUNDREDS IN INDIA vs SRI LANKA ODIs,

Virat Kohli - 8 in 47 matches
Sachin Tendulkar - 8 in 84 matches
Sanath Jayasuriya - 7 in 89 matches
Gautam Gambhir - 6 in 37 matches
Rohit Sharma - 6 in 46 matches
Kumar Sangakkara - 6 in 76 matches

If Kohli gets going in the IND-SL series and piles heaps of runs, he will also break into the top 5 of all-time run-scorers list in his preferred format; i.e. the ODIs.

MOST RUNS IN ODIs - ALL-TIME LIST

Sachin Tendulkar - 18426 runs in 463 ODIs
Kumar Sangakkara - 14234 runs in 404 ODIs
Ricky Ponting - 13704 runs in 375 ODIs
Sanath Jayasuriya - 134300 runs in 445 ODIs
Mahela Jaywardene - 12650 runs in 448 ODIs
Virat Kohli - 12471 runs in 265 ODIs

Kohli wasn't part of the India-SL T20Is and, hence, will start afresh when both sides will lock horns in the ODI series opener on Tuesday afternoon.