Virat Kohli Slams 21st ODI Hundred in India's Triumph Against Sri Lanka

Virat Kohli slammed his 21st ODI hundred (139 not out) as India defeated Sri Lanka by three wickets to seal a 5-0 whitewash, on Sunday. (Scorecard | Highlights)

Kohli cracked his fourth ODI ton of the year and the second in seven matches. The 25-year-old, who is the fastest to 6000 ODI runs, also became the second man to breach the 1000 run mark (after Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews) in the course of his 126-ball ton, studded with 12 fours and three sixes.

T 1677 -Loved Virat Kohli's remark before this game : " We are going to be ruthless " .. strong determined confident ! This is young India !

- Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) November 16, 2014

Chasing a competitive target, India were jolted early when Mathews removed openers Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma. Tottering at 14/2, the hosts looked vulnerable for the first time in a series they have dominated ruthlessly. (Angelo Mathews stands tall amid ruins)

India 5-0, Srikant 2-0, Saina 2-0, Kerala Blasters 1-0. Could not have asked for a better day.

- sachin tendulkar (@sachin_rt) November 16, 2014

Kohli, who pushed himself down to number four for the ODIs in Ranchi, got off the mark with a smashing boundary off his counterpart, Mathews. With fellow batsmen doing bulk of the scoring in the series, he may not have had much to do in the previous matches. Kohli had watched Rayudu smash his maiden international hundred and applauded from the stands as Rohit became the first batsman to score two double hundreds in ODIs. The final contest though was different as he combined patience with aggression to script a well-controlled innings.

One of the better ODI innings you'll see from @imVkohli Proper batting from a proper batsman.

- Alec Stewart (@StewieCricket) November 16, 2014

The fifth ODI presented Kohli the kind of situation he loves. India were chasing a big target and they had lost two men in supreme form. Rayudu had walked in at number three and the onus was on Kohli to drop anchor around an inexperienced line-up. With Mathews' bowlers pitching in all the wrong areas, Kohli was never really made to work hard for his runs.

Kohli has been in great form this year. He is now the second highest scorer in 2014 (after Mathews) and his last seven innings reads 127 (vs West Indies), 22, 49, 53, 66 and 139* in Ranchi on Sunday. The drives, pulls and shots square of the wicket were played with generous abundance.

Kohli like always, did not let the spinners settle in and took full toll on Tillekaratne Dilshan, whose expensive overs poured cold water on the Sri Lankan plans.

Kohli's form and confidence will be a huge boost for India ahead of the Australia tour and the World Cup to follow.