New Delhi, India

Virat Kohli scored his first ODI ton during the third and final match versus Bangladesh, in early December, after August 2019. He has now started 2023 with a brilliant ton as India have locked horns with Sri Lanka, one of Kohli's favourite opponents, in the three-match ODI series opener on Tuesday (January 10) in Guwahati. With his 73rd international ton, 45th in the format, he has moved past Sachin Tendulkar to have the most tons in India-SL ODIs (nine), equalled with the Master Blaster with an equal number of centuries at home (20) and also became the fastest to 12,500 international runs (242nd innings).

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MOST ODI HUNDREDS AT HOME

Virat Kohli - 20 in 102 ODIs

Sachin Tendulkar - 20 in 164 ODIs

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Hashim Amla - 14 in 69 ODIs

Ricky Ponting - 13 in 153 ODIs

Ross Taylor - 12 in 110 ODIs

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Also read: 'No way you...': Former Indian speedster blasts Rahul Dravid-Rohit Sharma for dropping Ishan Kishan

Most ODI hundreds against Sri Lanka:

9 - Virat Kohli 

8 - Sachin Tendulkar

7 - Saeed Anwar

6 - Gautam Gambhir

6 - Rohit Sharma

6 - Adam Gilchrist

Most international hundreds as a non-opener:

72 - Virat Kohli 

71 - Ricky Ponting

62 - Jacques Kallis

59 - Kumar Sangakkara

55 - Sachin Tendulkar

Coming out to bat with India off to a great start, courtesy of captain Rohit Sharma (83) and Shubman Gill's (70) 143-run opening stand, Kohli looked in his elements from the word go. He was dropped twice but the former skipper rotated strike and also found the boundaries at regular intervals to end with an 87-ball 113, studded with 12 fours and a six at a strike rate of 129.89. He stitched valuable stands with Shreyas Iyer (40-run stand) and KL Rahul (adding 90 runs for the fourth-wicket) to lead India's charge. Eventually, India managed a mammoth 373 for 7 in 50 overs and will aim to wrap up the proceedings with a big win. 

Kohli has, thus, started the ODI World Cup year with a big ton. He will aim to continue with the momentum in the upcoming white-ball assignments for India, at home, before IPL 2023.