Kohli marks return to international cricket with record-breaking century

Seventy days after his last game, Virat Kohli showed no rust in a record-breaking 139* (88) in the first ODI against the West Indies in Thiruvananthapuram.

The West Indies got off to a hot start, scoring 85/0 in the powerplay, and were well-poised at 176/1 to go well past 300 by the start of the 31st over. Kuldeep Yadav’s excellent returns of 10-1-40-4, when every other bowler went near or over a run-a-ball, allowed India to limit the impact of Justin Greaves’s century, with the Windies finishing at 295/7 in the allotted 50 overs.

The Indian batting lineup never stepped off the gas, with Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill combining for 74 before the first wicket. Twin centuries from Gill and Kohli kept the game well in control, with both batters at over 100 strike rate in a 151-run partnership before Gill lost his wicket for a well-compiled 110 (108).

Kohli took up a new gear, scoring his century off 74 and finishing the game with 39 runs from the next 14 balls. En route to his 55th ODI century and his 86th overall, Kohli hit his personal best of 9 sixes after noting in an interview that he wished to play more freely.

Kohli also became the fastest to 15,000 ODI runs, surpassing his idol in becoming the fastest to the landmark, and just the second to do so. Kohli has scored at an average of 112 since his 74* in Australia. In that span of 11 games, he has scored 9 50+ scores, while converting four of them to centuries.

With the ODI World Cup next year and several more ODIs scheduled, the question among cricketing fans will remain whether Kohli can finish off his storied career with the most international centuries ever.