Ever since Virat Kohli hit his 50th ODI century against New Zealand in the 2023 World Cup in Mumbai, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s mark of 49, cricket fans have wondered whether he could eventually touch the iconic milestone of 100 international centuries. Now, as the next ODI World Cup in 2027 approaches, that question has renewed relevance once again.
Kohli currently sits on 83 international centuries: 30 in Tests, 52 in ODIs, and one in T20Is. After India’s T20 World Cup triumph in 2024, he retired from T20Is. In May 2025, ahead of the England tour, he stepped away from Test cricket as well. This leaves ODI cricket as the only format where he can chase the remaining 17 centuries he needs to reach the three-figure landmark.
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Across the four ODI World Cups he has played: 2011, 2015, 2019, and 2023, Kohli has featured in 37 matches, scored 1795 runs at an average of 59.83 and strike rate of 88.20, along with five centuries and 12 fifties. His consistency continued in the 2025 Champions Trophy, where he became the fastest player to reach 14,000 ODI runs.
Looking ahead, India is set to play 23 ODIs until December 2026. Adding nine potential World Cup group games takes Kohli’s available matches to 32, with the possibility of more if India play warm-ups or reach the knockout rounds. But even with the full set of fixtures, it remains an enormous task.
To get to 101 hundreds, Kohli needs 18 more centuries, which requires one century every 1.78 innings—far above his current ODI century rate of 0.1769 per innings.
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Statistically, the probability of him scoring exactly 18 centuries in 32 innings stands at about 1 in 9.41 lakh, or 0.000106%. Even a dream run would require a century almost every alternate match, a level no batter has ever maintained. But again, India's toss losing strike is something next to impossible, as the odds of losing 19 tosses in a row are just 1 in 5,24,288, which is 0.0001907%.
Mathematically, the odds remain extremely small. Yet if India schedules more ODIs before the 2027 World Cup or if Kohli extends his career further, the window stays slightly open. Should he achieve it, he would not only break Tendulkar’s long-held record but also move past Kumar Sangakkara on the all-time international run charts.
