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Virat Kohli and the Last Great Chase: Can He Reach 100 International Hundreds?

  • arjunveersingh
  • Dec 9
  • 3 min read

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Sachin Tendulkar’s 100 international hundreds once felt like a summit no modern batter would even approach. And yet, here we are in 2025, watching Virat Kohli stand just 16 short of that mythical peak. On paper, the gap looks tiny. In reality, it raises a harder question: how many years of near-prime production can a 37-year-old, now retired from Tests and T20Is, realistically squeeze out of the ODI format?


To understand Kohli’s chances, we need to look at where he stands now, what lies ahead through the 2027 World Cup, and what the climb looks like after that.


Where Kohli Is Right Now


Kohli’s career numbers already sit in cricket’s rarest air.


  • 84 international centuries

    • 30 in Tests

    • 53 in ODIs

    • 1 in T20Is

  • 27,000+ international runs

  • In ODIs:

    • 14,557 runs

    • 296 innings

    • Average of 58.70

    • A century every 5.6 innings


He is, by any measure, already one of cricket’s most prolific scorers. But the Tendulkar landmark is a different question entirely. To get there, Kohli must now treat the target as purely an ODI pursuit: 16 more hundreds, all in one format.


How Fast Does He Need to Go?


Two questions will define the chase:

  1. How often will Kohli still make hundreds?

  2. How often will India’s ODI schedule allow him to bat?


India’s ODI Road to the 2027 World Cup


India’s fixture list is packed between now and the next World Cup:

  • Multiple bilateral ODI series

  • ICC events

  • The 2027 World Cup itself

Across that stretch, a realistic expectation is that Kohli will get around 30–32 ODI innings.

That’s our working window.


The Century Rates That Matter


Kohli has two meaningful scoring benchmarks:


Career Century Rate:

53 hundreds in 296 innings → 0.179 per innings(about one every 5.6 innings)


Post-slump “Kohli 2.0” Rate:

A sharper burst in recent years → roughly one every 4.4 innings(around 0.22 per innings)

These two versions of Kohli help set conservative and optimistic expectations.


How Many Hundreds Can He Add by 2027?


Using around 30 ODI innings as the assumption:


Conservative Pace (age effect, 1 every ~6 innings):

4–5 hundreds → Kohli reaches 88–89 hundreds total.


Career Rate (1 every 5.6 innings):

5–6 hundreds → he ends around 89–90 hundreds.


Purple Patch Kohli (1 every 4.5 innings):

6–7 hundreds → Kohli climbs to 90–92 hundreds.


Even at the high end, he likely finishes the 2027 World Cup with 90–92 international hundreds—still 8–10 short of Tendulkar.


The tournament, therefore, will not be a finish line. At best, it becomes a launching point.


The Real Challenge Begins After 2027


This is where the projection gets hazier.

By late 2027:

  • Kohli will be nearing 40 years old.

  • India will almost certainly begin transitioning the ODI squad toward younger players.

  • His own motivation and physical durability become huge variables.


Still, assume he remains a first-choice pick for a while. A late-career ODI workload of 10–12 innings a year is a fair estimate.


If Kohli ends 2027 with 91 hundreds, and he still needs nine more, then:

At his career century rate (0.17–0.18):


He needs 50–55 more innings.

At 10–12 innings a year:

  • Best case: 4–5 more years

  • Moderate: 6–7 years

  • Slower tail-end: 8–9 years


That pushes the final leg of the chase deep into his 40s—territory almost no modern batter has operated in successfully.


So, Will Kohli Reach 100 Hundreds?


It comes down to three things:


1. Longevity

The single biggest variable. Does Kohli want to play ODIs until 41 or 42?


2. Opportunity

India’s ODI calendar after 2027 may shrink as T20 and Test cycles dominate. Fewer matches mean fewer chances.


3. Output at an Advanced Age

Even great players see a natural flattening after 38–39. Can Kohli resist that curve long enough?


The Verdict: Possible, But Brutally Hard


The math says:

  • 4–5 years needed if he stays near his best.

  • 6–7 years if he scores at his career rate.

  • 8–9 years if performance dips with age.


For a player of Kohli’s intensity, discipline, and ambition, chasing Tendulkar’s record is not impossible. But it demands longevity rarely seen in ODI cricket—and perhaps a reimagined back-end to his career.


If he truly goes for it, the story of Kohli’s final chapter could become the most remarkable pursuit modern cricket has ever seen.

 
 
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