Ranchi: Indian skipper Virat Kohli acknowledges the crowd after hitting a century during the 3rd ODI cricket match against Australia, in Ranchi, Friday, March 8, 2019. (PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra) (PTI3_8_2019_000169B) Ranchi: Indian skipper Virat Kohli acknowledges the crowd after hitting a century during the 3rd ODI cricket match against Australia, in Ranchi, Friday, March 8, 2019. (PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra) (PTI3_8_2019_000169B)

India may have lost the third ODI against Australia in Ranchi on Friday but captain Virat Kohli stood out once again with his second consecutive century of the series. That was his eighth ton against Australia, surpassing the record for most tons against the five-time World Cup winners, that was previously held by Sachin Tendulkar.

It was his 41st ton in ODI cricket and the performance added to the fuel to the debate on social media about whether Kohli has surpassed batting great Tendulkar already.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan, who is a vocal figure on Twitter, referred to Kohli as the ‘GOAT’ (Greatest of All Time) with an emojee. When a user asked in the comments as to whether Vaughan was indicating that Kohli was better than the likes of Australian legend Sir Don Bradman, West Indies great Brian Lara and Tendulkar, Vaughan replied, “In One day cricket … YES …”

Kohli scored 123 in the third ODI in Ranchi as India were chasing a target of 314. However, he hardly found a stable partner at the other end – the highest partnership he was involved in was 88 for the fifth wicket with Kedar Jadhav.

The ?? is at it again … #Virat — Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) 8 March 2019

In One day cricket … YES … https://t.co/vwjmKJYlgT — Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) 8 March 2019

This stands in stark contrast to Australia whose openers Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja scored 193 runs. After Kohli’s dismissal, Vijay Shankar and Ravindra Jadeja took India closer but their dismissal resulted in the fragile Indian tail being exposed. India eventually lost the match by 32 runs.

As a batsman, Kohli had an exceptional 2018, in which he scored centuries in Test and ODI cricket in almost all the away tours that India undertook. His performances resulted in him becoming the first to win the three major awards of ICC’s Test, ODI and Cricketer of the year.

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