Virat Kohli vs Sachin Tendulkar: The ‘nervous’ 90s and the great ‘What If’

Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar (AP Photo)

NEW DELHI: India's run-machine Virat Kohli is in stunning form right now, and he is on a five-match streak of fifty-plus scores, including two back-to-back centuries in international cricket. The former India captain now plays only One-dayers for India, and despite that, there seems to be no stopping the modern-day legend. The two centuries against South Africa at home took his overall tally of international centuries to 84, just 16 short of the world record 100 hundreds held by maestro Sachin Tendulkar.

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On Sunday, Kohli missed out on another hundred when he was dismissed for 93 against New Zealand during the first ODI of the three-match series in Vadodara. He looked destined for his 85th international hundred but missed out. It was Kohli's eighth score in the nineties in ODIs — a 93 off 91 balls in another successful 300-plus target chase for India. In fact, it was a record 20th time that India have hunted down a 300-plus target in ODIs. Soon, fans started speculating: what if Kohli converted those nineties? How close would he be to Tendulkar's stunning record of 100 international hundreds? After Tendulkar, Kohli is the most prolific run-scorer in international cricket. He is second on the all-time list of international runs, led by Sachin with a combined 34,357 runs, while Kohli now has 28,068 runs to his name. If we count Kohli’s ‘nervous’ nineties, apart from eight in ODIs, he has two each in Tests and T20Is, taking the total to 12 scores in the nineties. Interestingly, Kohli has played 123 Tests and scored 30 centuries but has been dismissed in the nineties only twice — 96 against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2013 and 97 against England in Nottingham in 2018. His two T20I nineties are 90 not out against Australia in Adelaide in 2016 and 94 not out against West Indies in Hyderabad in 2019. Both came before Kohli scored his only T20I hundred — 122 not out against Afghanistan in Dubai in 2022 — which placed him on the elite list of batters with hundreds in all three formats. So, by adding those 12 nineties, Kohli’s total number of international hundreds would rise to a staggering 96 — a big ‘what if’, and still short of the great Sachin Tendulkar.

Virat Kohli – International Career

Format

Matches

Runs

Avg

100s

50s

90s

Tests

123

9,230

46.85

30

31

2

ODIs

309

14,650

58.60

53

77

8

T20Is

125

4,188

48.69

1

38

2

Total

557

28,068

--

84

146

12

It is all just fun, factoring in Kohli’s nineties to check his ‘what if’ number of hundreds in international cricket. What must be remembered, however, is that the record he is chasing — 100 hundreds — belongs to the batter with the most nineties in international cricket. Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar has a staggering 28 scores in the nineties across formats. He leads the list in ODIs with 18 such dismissals — 10 more than Kohli — and also has 10 in Tests, joint-most with Steve Waugh and Rahul Dravid.

Most nineties – ODIs

Player

Matches

Runs

100s

50s

90s

Sachin Tendulkar

463

18,426

49

96

18

Kane Williamson

175

7,256

15

47

9

Andy Flower

221

6,571

6

40

9

Nathan Astle

223

7,090

16

41

9

Virat Kohli

309

14,650

53

77

8

Most nineties – Tests

Player

Matches

Runs

100s

50s

90s

Steve Waugh

168

10,927

32

50

10

Rahul Dravid

164

13,288

36

63

10

Sachin Tendulkar

200

15,921

51

68

10

So, if we continue with the same ‘what if’ formula for Tendulkar, he would have finished his career with as many as 128 international hundreds. There should be no ‘what ifs’ when it comes to cricket numbers, but it is always fascinating to look back on storied careers and ask — what if? Fans and cricket lovers will continue to do so, because cricket is a game of numbers, and that curiosity is part of the beauty of this great sport.

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