Virat Kohli’s unique Republic Day record; even MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar couldn’t match former India captain

Virat Kohli hold a special Republic Day record which even legends like Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni do not possess in their long careers. India is celebrating its 76th Republic Day on this day. As far as cricket is concerned, the Indian team are hosting England in the five-match T20I series at the moment with the hosts leading 2-0.

Indian cricket has several records on Republic Day but there is one record that is unlikely to be matches in near future. On this auspicious occasion of Republic Day, Virat Kohli is the only Indian to score a hundred in the international cricket.

The incident took place during India's tour of Australia in 2012 on Day 3 of the fourth Test in Adelaide. In reply to Australia's mammoth 604/7 declared in the first innings, India ended day 2 at 61/2. Coming to bat at No.6, Virat Kohli smashed his 116 runs off 213 balls.

Although India lost that game, Virat Kohli etched his name into history books by becoming the first Indian to score an international hundred on Republic Day. Surprisingly, it was Virat Kohli's maiden Test hundred.

Former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu could have achieved the feat before Virat Kohli but the right-hander fell for 99 against Sri Lanka in a Test match in Bengaluru in 1994 on Republic Day. could have achieved

List of highest scores by Indians on Republic Day

Interestingly, two-time World Cup-winning former Indian captain MS Dhoni is the only Indian to score a half-century on both Independence and Republic Day. Indian cricket's modern-day stars Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah made their T20Is debuts on Republic Day in 2016.