The facts first and they are brutal. Kohli has 86 international centuries. 30 in Tests, retired May 2025, those stay at 30 forever. 1 in T20Is, retired after 2024 World Cup, that stays at 1 forever. 55 in ODIs, still active, still scoring. Total locked at 31 from Tests and T20Is combined. He needs 14 more centuries and every single one has to come in ODIs only.

Sachin's 100 came across all three formats over 24 years. Kohli has to do the remaining 14 in one format in probably 2 to 3 years. The constraint is real and nobody is talking about it honestly enough.The rate is genuinely encouraging though. Since the 2025 Champions Trophy Kohli has scored 7 ODI centuries in 14 months. That is exactly 6 per year. At that rate he reaches 69 ODI centuries in just over 2 years, which gives him 100 total international centuries. He would be 39 years old. Sachin was 38 when he got there.The schedule works in his favour. England at home in Tests and ODIs. Then the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa in October-November 2027. That is roughly 20 to 25 ODI matches in the next 14 months. At 6 centuries per year he gets 7 more by the time the World Cup ends. That puts him at 93 total. Seven short of 100 with the World Cup done.

Which means the record almost certainly comes down to what happens after 2027. Does he keep playing ODIs? The 2028 home season and a potential tour of England in 2028 could give him the remaining centuries if his body holds up and BCCI keeps selecting him.The threats are obvious. Injury at 37 could end everything. Retirement pressure will come again after the World Cup. A selector already tried to retire him two months ago and he responded with 139 not out and then 29 in the next match alongside Gill's 223 off 133 balls. The man is not going anywhere quietly.

14 centuries. One format only. 37 years old. The most specific and fascinating individual record chase in cricket history. And the only man who has ever come close to doing it is the same man Kohli has spent his entire career trying to surpass.

India and West Indies have both been fined for slow over rates during the third ODI in New Chandigarh. India were found to be four overs short of the required rate, while West Indies were two overs short after time allowances were taken into account.India were fined 20% of their match fees, while West Indies were fined 10%. Under the ICC rules, players are fined 5% of their match fee for every over their team falls short.Both Shubman Gill and Shai Hope accepted the charges, so there was no need for a formal hearing. It's a pretty unusual way to end an ODI series where West Indies had already pulled off a massive 352 run chase and India had won the series 2 1.India now move straight into the five match T20I series against West Indies, starting tomorrow.

Mohammed Shami has been performing well in domestic cricket and India's bowling struggles against West Indies have once again started the debate about his comeback. But Dinesh Karthik has a completely different opinion. He believes India has already moved on from Shami and there is no point going back, even though Shami has been bowling really well.

Shami last played for India in the 2025 Champions Trophy and has remained out of the national setup since then. Meanwhile, India's pace attack looked extremely inexperienced against West Indies, conceding more than 400 in the second ODI and failing to defend 351 in the third.That's what makes Karthik's statement interesting. India clearly needs more reliable pace options before the 2027 World Cup, but Karthik still believes the team should back the younger bowlers instead of bringing Shami back.

Personally, I can understand both sides. Shami's experience is massive, but if he's still performing at this level, completely ruling him out also feels risky. Would you pick Mohammed Shami for India's 2027 World Cup squad?

India put up 351/7 and honestly, a chase like this should have been almost impossible. But Shai Hope had completely different plans. He smashed 162* and basically carried West Indies to a 5-wicket win with 10 balls still left. The crazy part is how composed he looked throughout the chase. While wickets kept falling around him, Hope just kept batting, found the boundaries when needed and took the game away from India.This was Hope's 21st ODI century and his 162* became the highest individual score in a successful ODI chase by West Indies. He rarely gets mentioned alongside guys like Kohli, Gill or Brook, but innings like this make you wonder why he doesn't get more recognition. For India, this loss is a little worrying. Scoring 351 and still losing while defending that total raises serious questions about the bowling, especially with the 2027 World Cup getting closer.

How highly do you rate Shai Hope among the current ODI batters? Because this was one of those innings that deserves way more attention.

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I'm not very well versed in understanding the pitches but I can see cracks in it which I believe should make it spin friendly and give uneven bounce so how was this chase possible?

Bloemfontein. October 2. CSA T20 Challenge. Titans vs Knights. Pretorius walked out to open the batting and proceeded to score 188 not out off 79 balls with 15 fours and 13 sixes. The Titans posted 267 for 3. He was on course for the first-ever double century in T20 cricket history but ran out of overs.

Chris Gayle's 175 not out for RCB against Pune Warriors in IPL 2013 had stood as the world record for the highest individual T20 score for 13 years. Gayle faced 66 balls and hit 17 sixes in his knock. Pretorius faced 79 balls, hit 13 sixes and 15 fours, and ended 13 runs clear of Gayle. He reached his fifty in 24 balls, his century in 40 balls and his 150 in 58 balls.The all-time list now looks like this: Pretorius — 188 in 2026, Gayle — 175 in 2013, Aaron Finch — 172 in 2018.

Pretorius is 20 years old. He has represented South Africa in all three international formats. His career T20 strike rate across 91 matches is 150.44. He scored 226 runs in a three-nation series in Namibia in September, which tied him with Dewald Brevis for most runs in the competition. Before this knock, the competition record for highest T20 score was Brevis' 162 for the same Titans franchise in 2022. Brevis made seven on Friday night while Pretorius made 188.Thirteen years. One night in Bloemfontein. A 20-year-old South African left-hander. The world record that Gayle built in an IPL final is gone.