Greatest after 200 ODIs: Virat Kohli hits 31st ODI ton and has Sachin in his sights

Indian captain Virat Kohli scored his 31st One Day International century against New Zealand in Mumbai on Sunday, surpassing former Australian captain Ricky Ponting to become the second highest ODI centurion.

Kohli, who averages 55.14 in the format, is now second only to Sachin Tendulkar, who has 49 ODI centuries to his name.

The Indian captain, who turns 29 in a fortnight, reached the milestone during his 200th ODI. At the same stage, Tendulkar had scored 18 centuries at an average of 41.74.

While Kohli had earlier become the fastest batsman to cross the 8,000-run mark in the 50-over format and now totals 8,888 runs, he is also the highest run scorer at the 200-ODI mark.

Tendulkar had scored 7,305 runs in his first 200 ODIs. South Africa's AB de Villiers trails Kohli with 8,621 runs at the same stage. Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, who made 22 ODI hundreds, had amassed 7,747 runs at the same point.

Contemporaries such as Hashim Amla and de Villiers have 26 and 25 ODI hundreds respectively.

Virat Kohli's 31 ODI centuries against different oppositions.

At this stage, the Delhi lad has an average higher than anyone in the 50 highest ODI centurions.

He had scored his 30th ODI ton against Sri Lanka in early September to draw level with former Australian captain Ricky Ponting.

Despite Kohli striking his landmark century, India failed to win the first ODI. India scored 280 runs in their 50 overs for the loss of eight wickets. Tom Latham's unbeaten 103 and Ross Taylor's 95 helped the Black Caps chase the total with an over to spare and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Earlier in the day, Trent Boult picked four wickets and conceded 35 runs during his spell.