Published: Oct 25, 2015, 03:31 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 25, 2015, 03:32 PM (IST)
Quinton de Kock emulated Sachin Tendulkar and went past Virat Kohli in scoring the most One-Day International (ODI) centuries before turning 23 years of age. De Kock scored his eighth century in ODIs, and his fifth against India. It was also his second ton of the ongoing series. With the way de Kock has batted so far against India in ODIs, memories of Saeed Anwar and Sanath Jayasuriya come flooding back; left-handed opening batsmen who relish Indian bowling. The five-match ODI series is currently level 2-2, and whoever wins this match takes the series. LIVE CRICKET UPDATES: India vs South Africa 2015, 5th ODI at Mumbai
De Kock’s 23rd birthday will come up on December 17 this year, which meant that the only way he could possibly have got to the landmark was in this series. That he did so by scoring two centuries is a testament to his immense skill and his love of Indian bowling. With this century, de Kock draws level with no less a batsman than Tendulkar in scoring eight ODI centuries before the age of 23. He also went past Kohli, who had seven centuries, along the way. LIVE CRICKET UPDATES: India vs South Africa 2015, 5th ODI at Mumbai
| Player | Tons before 23 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 8 |
| Quinton de Kock | 8 |
| Virat Kohli | 7 |
| Upul Tharanga | 6 |
| Ahmed Shehzad | 5 |
| Paul Stirling | 5 |
The others on the list are Sri Lankan opener Upul Tharanga, Pakistani opener Ahmed Shehzad, and Irish opening batsman Paul Stirling. Curiously, Kohli is the only batsman on the list who is not an opening batsman, though Tendulkar started off in the middle order as well. READ: Hashim Amla becomes fastest cricketer to 6,000 ODI runs, beats Virat Kohli’s record
