Virat Kohli Breaks Sachin Tendulkar's Record With 134 Half-Centuries Against SENA Teams

Sandy Verma

Tezzbuzz|05-11-2026

For generations of Asian players, touring South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia (SENA) was the true measure of a great batsman. Battling against the dreaded pace, high bounce and sideways movement of these countries in front of unforgiving crowds was the toughest challenge a cricketer could face.

But Virat Kohli has now etched his name into the history books.

Kohli has now scored 134 half-centuries against the SENA nations in all forms of international cricket. This surpasses his hero and former record holder, Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 133 half-centuries against them.

The Summit: All-Time 50+ Scores vs SENA Nations featuring Virat Kohli

Rank player Team/Country 50+ Scores vs SENA Centuries Fifties Matches
1 Virat Kohli India 134 45 89 320
2 Sachin Tendulkar India 133 50 83 328
3 Brian Lara West Indies / ICC 100 — — —
4 Kumar Sangakkara Sri Lanka / ICC 97 — — —
5 Ricky Ponting Australia 91 — — —

If Virat Kohli has achieved this feat 8 matches quicker than Tendulkar, it puts his achievements into perspective.

Whilst Brian Lara, Kumar Sangakkara and Ricky Ponting have all created their own legends playing against the best opposition, Kohli and Tendulkar are the only players in history to score more than 100 runs on two occasions.

Unmatched Mastery: 50+ Average (Quadruple)

Whilst the number of runs scored may be the most obvious highlight, against the SENA nations in One Day International cricket, Kohli has shown his iconic consistency.

He is the only player in history to have a 50+ average against all four SENA nations in 50-over cricket.

No other white-ball cricketer has an average of 50+ against all members of the SENA quartet. His most recent fifty against New Zealand came in his 80th ODI fifty overall and his 11th fifty against the Black Caps. This took him to 134 landmark scores.

Kohli has often had a great impact on the overall outcome of many bilateral series

He has won Player of the Series (POTS):

Australia: He has had multiple game-defining performances in both Test and ODI formats.

England: He has had dominant performances in both home and away conditions.

South Africa: He has had masterclass performances, including his famous 2018 series in South Africa.

Final Frontier

The only thing missing from Kohli's SENA list is a Player of the Series award against New Zealand. If he were to earn a Player of the Series award against the Black Caps, he would become the first ever Indian batsman to win Player of the Series against all 4 SENA nations.

His 134 fifty-plus scores are a testament to his modern batting mastery, having faced and beaten some of cricket's toughest conditions.