Raipur, Dec 3 (UNI) Virat Kohli produced yet another chapter of sheer batting theatre, stitching together back-to-back centuries against South Africa and extending a run of form that seems to defy time, pressure and opposition.
It was vintage Kohli in Raipur, full of rhythm, composure and command — the kind of innings that makes you sit up a little straighter, as if watching a master tune his instrument.
Kohli’s last three knocks against South Africa tell their own story: a polished 101 not out in Kolkata during the 2023 World Cup, a regal 135 in Ranchi earlier this year, and now another 102 in Raipur. Three innings, three statements. With this, he pulls level with Kane Williamson for the most ODI hundreds against the Proteas — four apiece — a rare neighbourhood inhabited only by the game’s most resolute performers.
And then comes the statistic that makes you pause, smile and shake your head in disbelief. Kohli now owns 11 separate streaks of scoring hundreds in successive ODI innings — not one or two, but eleven. No one else is close. AB de Villiers, the genius himself, has six. Kohli sits alone at the summit, refusing to share the view.
His consistency against the world’s best continues to gleam. He now has seven or more ODI hundreds against four different teams: 10 vs Sri Lanka, 9 vs West Indies, 8 vs Australia and now 7 vs South Africa. Only Sachin Tendulkar — the original sculptor of big-match temperament — appears alongside him in this elite space, having achieved similar feats against Australia and Sri Lanka.
The hundred in Raipur arrived in the 38th over, and it came in understated yet poetic fashion. Marco Jansen pitched it up, Kohli eased it down to long-on for a single — nothing extravagant, nothing forced. And then the scene changed. Kohli skipped, punched the air, lifted his arms skyward. Off came the helmet, on came the sea of noise. KL Rahul wrapped him in a warm embrace as the stands roared “Kohli, Kohli,” and the man of the moment raised his bat, soaking in every decibel.
It was a moment painted with calm hands but felt with a thunderous heartbeat.
