Kohli at 38: His Best ODI Innings Was 43, Not a Century

Virat Kohli has scored 55 centuries in one day internationals, more than any batter in history. Asked on his 38th birthday to pick the best ODI innings he has ever played, he chose a score of 43.

The pick came in a Star Sports video titled Winner Stays On, released for his birthday on Thursday, November 5. Kohli worked through his own innings in pairs, keeping one and dropping the other, round after round. The 183 against Pakistan in the 2012 Asia Cup fell. The 138 against South Africa fell. The 107 against Pakistan at the 2015 World Cup fell. The innings left standing at the end was the 43 off 34 balls against England in the 2013 Champions Trophy final at Edgbaston.

Why the 43 stands above the hundreds

The final on June 23, 2013 was cut by rain to 20 overs a side. India slid to 66 for 5 on a damp pitch. Kohli top scored in the match with 43 off 34 balls, with four fours and one six, and added 47 runs with Ravindra Jadeja, who made 33 not out. India reached 129 for 7. England were held to 124 for 8, and India won by five runs to lift the trophy.

That context is the point of the pick. The innings was not the biggest he played. It was played with a trophy on the line, in the worst conditions of the day, with wickets falling around him. In the final round of the video, Kohli set the 43 against his own 35 in the 2011 World Cup final, and kept the Edgbaston innings.

The birthday follows a match winning week

The video landed a day after Kohli shaped another win. On November 4 he scored 74 off 51 balls as India beat New Zealand by five wickets in the first ODI of the series, a match covered in full on this site. In that innings he drew level with Ricky Ponting as the leading ODI run scorer against New Zealand. He needs one more run in the second ODI, in Wellington on November 7, to hold the record on his own.

Birthday messages from across Indian cricket filled the day. Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravi Shastri were among those who posted wishes, according to reports collecting the messages. Kohli turned 38 as the only format he still plays for India, the ODI game, runs through a New Zealand series that now carries his name in almost every headline.

Key numbers

• 55: ODI centuries by Kohli, a world record
• 43 off 34: his chosen best innings, Edgbaston, June 23, 2013
• 66 for 5: India's score when the innings took shape
• 47: runs added with Ravindra Jadeja for the sixth wicket
• 129 for 7 against 124 for 8: the final scores, India winners by five runs
• 74 off 51: Kohli's score against New Zealand on November 4

What happens next

India play the second ODI against New Zealand in Wellington on November 7. One run gives Kohli a record that stood with Ponting for years. The birthday video will travel further than most match reports, because it answers a question fans argue about in a way nobody predicted. The man with the most ODI hundreds says the innings that mattered most never reached fifty.