Virat Kohli’s 2462-day streak comes to an end as India endure rare off-night in Raipur

Virat Kohli’s 2462-day streak comes to an end as India endure rare off-night in Raipur (BCCI Photo)

A rare sight unfolded at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur following the second ODI between India and South Africa on Wednesday night. Fans were thoroughly entertained by Virat Kohli’s century, a second consecutive triple-figure score in the ongoing series.

With seven fours and two sixes at a strike rate of over 109, Kohli enthralled the spectators with a 93-ball 102 — his maiden century at the venue. It was his 53rd ODI century, his 84th international ton overall, and the 11th occurrence of scoring hundreds in two (or more) consecutive ODI innings. Kohli became the only batter in history to score seven or more hundreds against four separate opponents with this seventh ODI century against South Africa (10 vs SL, 9 vs WI, 8 vs AUS, and 7 vs SA).

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Alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad, Kohli put on a 195-run partnership for the third wicket, enabling India set a target of 359. But with four balls to spare, South Africa managed to chase down the target — the joint-highest successful chase against India in ODIs — powered by Aiden Markram's 98-ball 110 and smart half-centuries from Matthew Breetzke and Dewald Brevis.

The instance marked the first time in 2,462 days, India were defeated in an ODI in which Kohli got a century. The last time India ended on the losing side when Kohli scored a ton was on March 8, 2019. India then lost against Australia in Ranchi by 32 runs despite Kohli scoring 123 off 95 balls.

It was also the first time in eight years that India lost a match defending a total after Kohli struck a century — the previous incident being at the Wankhede Stadium in October 2017 against New Zealand.

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Overall, Kohli now has eight ODI hundreds in losing causes, four of which occurred when India batted first.

Scoring 586 runs in 12 innings at an average of 58.60 with a strike rate of 92.72, including three hundreds and three fifties, Kohli has been in fantastic form in 2025. He is now just 32 points behind top-ranked Rohit Sharma in the ICC ODI rankings after scoring 135 runs last week.