Virat Kohli finishes 2021 without a single century: Key numbers
What's the story
Virat Kohli has been arguably one of the greatest batters in the recent era. He reached the peak of his batting prowess between 2016 and 2019 and during that time he scored 2,000 plus runs in a year (Tests, T20Is, and ODIs combined). He scored 22 hundreds in 2017 and 2018 combined in 83 games. However, he hasn't hit a century since November 2019.
Context
Why does it matter?
When Kohli was at the peak of his career and was scoring hundreds at large, one felt he will keep bringing the same amount of consistency. However, that has not been the case in the last two years. Kohli scored his last century in 2019 during the India versus Bangladesh day/night Test in Kolkata. It was his 70th international century.
Years
Breaking down Kohli's centuries in international cricket
Kohli made his debut in 2008 and failed to score a century in the five games he played. He scored his first century in 2009 against Sri Lanka in Kolkata during an ODI match. Here's how Kohli fared since then: 2010: 3 2011: 4 2012: 8 2013: 6 2014: 8 2015: 4 2016: 7 2017: 11 2018: 11 2019: 7 2020: 0 2021: 0
Numbers
Most international centuries in men's cricket
Despite his inability to score a hundred in 2020 and 2021, Kohli is still sitting at the third spot on the list for most international centuries. He is only behind Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting. Top 5: Tendulkar: 782 innings, 100 hundreds Ponting: 668 innings, 71 hundreds Kohli: 498 innings, 70 hundreds Kumar Sangakkara: 666 innings, 63 hundreds Jacques Kallis: 617 innings, 62 hundreds
Details
No century for Kohli in 52 matches
Since making his debut, Kohli has played 447 games (overall) and scored 23,250 runs at a staggering average of 54.83. He has smashed 70 hundreds and 118 fifties with his highest score being 254*. Since his last century, he has played 52 games across formats and scored 2,078 runs at 39.20. He has smashed 20 fifties and his highest score is 94*.
2021
Kohli's performance in 2021
Kohli played 24 games across formats in 2021 and scored 964 runs at 37.07. He smashed 10 half-centuries. He donned the whites for India 11 times, accumulating 536 runs at 28.21 with the help of four half-centuries. Kohli amassed 299 runs in 10 ODIs at 74.75. He scored four fifties and the highest score is 80*. He scored 129 runs in T20Is as well.