Virat Kohli falls short of Babar Azam's unique ODI feat despite twin centuries vs South Africa

Kohli fails to replicate Babar's record [Source: AFP Photo]

Virat Kohli turned back the clock against the Proteas team as he had one of his best ODI performances in the three matches against a strong bowling attack at home. The batter came into the series on the back of a fifty in the SCG ODI, but also two ducks on the Australian tour; however, he left that far behind and produced one of his greatest ODI series.

In the first ODI match at Ranchi, Kohli scored a scintillating 135 off 120 balls as India crossed the winning line. In the second game at Raipur, he again scored a breathtaking ton as the batter proved his critics wrong with two back-to-back stellar knocks.

Kohli fails to attain Babar Azam's triple ODI hundred feat

In the Vizag ODI, Kohli had the chance to join Babar Azam in an exclusive hundred list, but India’s number 3 failed to do so, and interestingly, it was not his fault. Twice in his ODI career, Babar Azam has achieved the feat of scoring three ODI centuries on a trot. He first attained the milestone in 2016, and then bagged the same reward in 2022 and till now was the only player to get to the unique feat.

Kohli had already achieved the feat once during the ODI series against the West Indies in 2018, and had the golden chance to do it on Saturday, but the target was not big enough as Kohli remained unbeaten on 65.

Kohli's stunning ODI series vs South Africa

Kohli was at his sumptuous best against the South African bowlers as the batter had a point to prove and he did exactly that. In three matches, the star batter scored 302 runs, at a Bradmanesque average of 151, and a strike rate of 117.

Had the target been a bit more, Kohli would have joined Babar in the exclusive list of players with three successive ODI tons on two different ocassions.

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