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Virat Kohli is an Indian cricketer and the current captain of the national team. A right-handed middle order batsman, he has made 43 centuries in international cricket—27 in One Day Internationals (ODI) and 16 in Test cricket—as of February 2017. In a 2013 interview, former West Indies cricketer Vivian Richards described Kohli as someone whose batting reminds him of himself.
Kohli made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in August 2008, and scored his first century the following year when he made 107 against the same team at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. His 86-ball 133 not out against Sri Lanka in February 2012 led India to the second highest run-chase by any team in Australia. Former Australian cricketer Dean Jones described Kohli's innings as "one of the greatest ODI knocks of all time". Kohli's highest score of 183 came against Pakistan during the 2012 Asia Cup; India successfully chased a target of 330 set by Pakistan and Kohli was adjudged man of the match. Following that in 2013, he made his first century as a captain while playing against the West Indies in a tri-nation tournament. In the bilateral series against Australia in October 2013, Kohli made two centuries in successful run chases. The first of the two, 100 not out, was scored off 52 balls and remains the fastest ODI century by an Indian. The next one came off 61 balls, the third-fastest by an Indian as of January 2017. Out of his 27 ODI centuries, 17 have come in the second innings, and India have lost only four ODIs when he made a century. As of January 2017, Kohli has the most centuries for an active player and is fourth in the all-time list in ODIs.
After making his Test debut against the West Indies in 2011, Kohli's scored his first century in the format during the Australian tour in January 2012. In the first Test of the 2014–15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he made 115 and 141, and became the fourth Indian player to score centuries in both the innings of a Test match. He was appointed as the captain of the Test team during the series and became the first player to score centuries in each of his first three Test innings as captain. In 2016, Kohli scored three double centuries including a career-best 235 against England. He became became the fifth player to score three or more double centuries in a calendar year.{{efn|The feat was previously achieved by Don Bradman (in 1930), Ricky Ponting (in 2003) and Brendon McCullum (in 2014). In 2012, Michael Clarke broke the record when he made four double centuries. Nine of his sixteen centuries in the format have been scored at venues outside India. Since his debut Twenty20 International match in 2010, Kohli is yet to score a century in the format; his highest score in the format is 90 not out against Australia in 2016.