I know this is going to be a controversial answer, but here it goes: the likelihood of Kohli reaching 100 centuries is pretty much nil by 2026 end, but even accomplishing it by the end of his career is very low.


I will provide stats to explain my logic for the same.

Firstly, this is the list of the total number of centuries scored by various batsmen across all formats after the age of 34.




As one can see, Sangakkara scored a whopping 26 centuries after turning 34, while Sachin and Dilshan are next with 24 and 20 respectively.

Kohli currently has 72 centuries, his last ton coming against Afghanistan in the ODI format #INDvBAN on 10th December 2022 against Bangladesh in Chattogram. He turned 34 on 5th November 2022. So, he will need to break these records and hit 28 centuries from now on.

Further, note that the number of centuries scored post-37 is pretty low. Among the recent players, only Dravid and Jayasuriya have 8 centuries each after turning 37. While the earlier players used to play mostly tests and hence had a longer careers.



So, Kohli either needs to get to 90-odd centuries within the next 3 years or break these records of post-37 age centuries hugely to breach the 100 centuries barrier.

Now, if he wants to reach 90 within 3 years, he needs 19+ centuries in the next 3 years. Here's a list of the most tons in a calendar year after turning 34:


Zaheer Abbas (1982), Sachin (2010), and Sanga(2014) lead with 8 apiece. But Zaheer has no other year with even 4 centuries. Sangakkara has 1 more year of 6 centuries (2015) and 2 more of 5 centuries (2012, 13). While, Sachin has 2 more years of 5 centuries (2008, 09).

Thus, Kohli will have to equal Sangakkara's 3 best years post 34 (8+6+5=19) and beat Sachin's 3 best years (8+5+5=18 centuries) to hit 19 and reach 90 in the next 3 years.

Hopefully, this will have pointed out the huge difficulty in the path for Kohli. But I am sure there will be people like "Kohli's different, he's more prolific in making 100s, he's really fit...he will surely make it!"

Well, let's turn to part 2 of our stats. Kohli has made 27 test hundreds in 173 innings making for 6.4 test innings/ hundred. While he has 43 ODI hundreds in 253 innings making for 5.88 ODI innings/ hundreds.


I am not going to count for T20I hundreds because there is no metric there. I will be very happy if he even makes one more T20I hundred in his career. It is difficult for non-openers to make hundreds and realistically I don't see him playing many T20Is other than the max in the 202 World Cup and a few matches before it.

Let us go for the most optimistic scenario: Kohli continues to play both ODIs and tests till the 2027 ODI World Cup. Also, let us assume no friction (ie no major injuries), so Kohli will play the majority of matches except the rest for a few. Also, assume he maintains his ratio of roughly 6 innings per hundred in both formats.

Now, this is a list of the number of ODIs India played in the last 6 years: 29 in 2017, 20 in 2018, then 28, then 9, just 6 in 2021, and finally (20 played + 3 vs Bangladesh = ) 23 in 2022. Thus, India played 115 ODIs in the last 6 years giving an average of 18 ODIs per year.

Also, tests played by India in the last 6 years: 11 in 2017, then 14 in 2018, 8 in 2019, just 4 in 2020, 14 in 2021, and finally (5 played + 2 in Bangladesh=) 7 for 2022. Thus, India played 54 tests in 6 years, giving an average of 9 per year.

I will be generous and count 10 tests and 18 innings per year for him giving 3 test hundreds per year. Also, I will hope he plays 15 out of 18 ODIs every year and gets 2.5 ODI hundreds per year. 3 + 2.5 = 5.5 hundred per year.

So, as per the current formula, Kohli plays 3 ODIs and hopefully 3-4 test innings in Bangladesh in 2 tests by this year's end. If we are optimistic, he scores 2 instead of 1 century against Bangladesh, and, he ends the year 2022 with 73 centuries.

With 5.5 centuries per year for 4 more years (till 2026), he adds 22 more centuries to reach 95. Thus, even 1-2 more T20 hundreds doesn't take him to 100 centuries by 2026.

However, one more year of 5.5 centuries and voila, Kohli has 100 international centuries aged 39 in 2027. He can choose to stay with Sachin at 100 or try and add 1 more before retiring.

But, this is all wishful thinking! A more realistic understanding would acknowledge that:

⚫He is more likely to get injured or need rest more frequently with age.

⚫He is more likely to lose his excellent form and not maintain the ratio of innings to hundreds.

⚫He is a team man. So, if he feels he is dragging the ODI team down, he may likely give up ODIs to solely concentrate on Tests by 2025 (ie age of 37) to allow the ODI team to move forward.

So, here's my final opinion:

⚫Realistic Possibility of Kohli making 100 centuries by even the end of 2026- less than 5%.

⚫Possibility of Kohli reaching 100 centuries in his career ever - about 10-15%.

⚫Most likely final tally of career centuries for Kohli- 90 +/—2.

But, Kohli being Kohli has a habit of proving everybody wrong. So, I hope he reads this answer, saves it as a bookmark, reads it daily, and uses it as extra motivation to prove me wrong! I also look forward to looking back at this answer 4-5 years down the lane and thinking how poorly this answer aged!

Do share your thoughts on this issue!