By Admin 
The third ODI match between India and South Africa is not only the deciding match of the series but can also prove to be another historic day for Virat Kohli. This match to be held at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam is giving Kohli an opportunity to score three consecutive centuries in ODI cricket, which only a few batsmen have achieved so far.
Kohli’s form was excellent in the series
Virat Kohli’s bat performed very well in the first two matches of this series. First in Raipur and then in Ranchi he scored brilliant centuries. In both the matches, the way Kohli started attacking from the initial balls itself, it showed that this star batsman is once again reminding us of the golden phase of his career.
In such a situation, all eyes will be on his innings in the third ODI also. If Kohli scores a century here too, he will again join the elite club of scoring three consecutive centuries in ODIs.
Have done hat-trick of centuries before also
Kohli has done this feat before also. In the year 2018, in the home series against West Indies, he scored three consecutive centuries in Guwahati (140), Visakhapatnam (157*) and Pune (107). He was the first player to do this for India. Later, Rohit Sharma also repeated this feat by scoring three consecutive centuries in the 2019 World Cup.
Who has achieved this rare feat?
It has been very rare to score three consecutive centuries in the history of ODI cricket. Till now only 13 players have been able to achieve this feat.
- It was started by Zaheer Abbas of Pakistan in 1982-83. He had done this feat against India.
- The record for the longest series of centuries is held by Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka. He created history by scoring four consecutive centuries in the 2015 World Cup.
- South African player Quinton de Kock has also made a place in this list. De Kock had scored three consecutive centuries against India in 2013.
In this context, if Kohli scores a century in Visakhapatnam, he will join the very rare players who have been named in this list twice.
Kohli is the key to India’s victory
The thing to note is that whenever Kohli scores a century, India’s chances of winning the match increase by 83%. In such a situation, Kohli’s innings in the decisive match will be very important for the Indian team. The series is currently tied at 1-1 and to avoid defeat on home ground, a big innings will be expected from India’s star batsman.