Virat Kohli becomes first Indian to score World Cup ton on birthday

Virat Kohli slammed his 49th ODI ton and equalled the great Sachin Tendulkar's record for most hundreds in the ODI format. Kohli achieved the milestone on his 35th birthday at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Kolkata: Virat Kohli celebrated his 35th birthday with a bang as he scored a record-equalling 49th ODI hundred against South Africa in the league stage game of the ongoing World Cup at Kolkata.

Virat became the first Indian batter to score a World Cup century on his birthday. He also joined former India players Vinod Kamble and his idol and batting Sachin Tendulkar to score an ODI hundred on his birthday. Kohli scored a dogged unbeaten 101 as India posted a challenging 326/5 against South Africa on a challenging Eden Gardens track.

For the record, Vinod Kambli, who also played for Mumbai in domestic cricket, was the first batter in ODIs to score a hundred on his birthday. He did it against Sri Lanka in 1993 and remained unbeaten exactly on 100. Next to score a hundred on his birthday in an ODI was Tendulkar himself and he achieved it in 1998 against Australia in what was remembered as the Desert Storm. Sachin scored a gritty 134 against a quality Australian attack.

Legendary Sri Lankan batter Sanath Jayasuriya also scored a hundred on his birthday and he did it in the year 2008 against Bangladesh. Former New Zealand batter Ross Taylor too scored a hundred on his birthday and hit an unbeaten 131 against Pakistan in 2011. Two more batters have scored an ODI hundred on their birthdays. New Zealand batter Tom Latham blazed his way to 140 not out against the Netherlands in 2022 and earlier in this edition of the World Cup, Australia's Mitch Marsh scored a hundred against Pakistan on his birthday. At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Mitch Marsh slammed 121 as he took a listless Pakistan attack to cleansers.

• Batters to score century on birthday in ODIs:
  Vinod Kambli 100* v Sri Lanka, 1993
  Sachin Tendulkar 134 v Australia, 1998
  Sanath Jayasuriya 130 v Bangladesh, 2008
  Ross Taylor 131* v Pakistan, 2011
  Tom Latham 140* versus Netherlands, 2022
  Mitchell Marsh 121 versus Pakistan, 2023
  Virat Kohli - 101* versus South Africa, 2023

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