In the first game, Kohli fell short by seven runs, scoring 93 against the Black Caps

India has started its 2026 cricket season with a three-game ODI series against New Zealand at home, followed by a five-match T20I series. While the focus remains on winning both series, fans cannot help but wonder which Indian player will start the century tally for the nation.

In the first game, Virat Kohli scored 93 runs but missed the feat by seven. Ahead of the second game, let us check out which players scored the first century for India in the last five years and also find out AI’s prediction for 2026.

Abhishek Sharma

(Credit- NDTV)

Last year, Abhishek Sharma was the first Indian to hit a century for India. He opened India’s year-long century tally with 135 runs off 54 balls against England in the fifth T20I game on February 2. He registered a strike rate of 250, and his innings included seven fours and 13 sixes.

Rohit Sharma

(Credit- The Observer Post)

In 2024, it was India’s former Rohit Sharma who started India’s century spree with 121 runs against Afghanistan. On January 17, 2024, India and Afghanistan played a T20 match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Sharma had scored 121 runs off 69 balls, including eleven fours and eight sixes, at a strike rate of 175.36. Surprisingly, despite Sharma’s efforts and India putting 212 on the board, Afghanistan levelled the score, and the match went to a Super Over.

Suryakumar Yadav

(Credit- Free Press Journal)

The year 2023 witnessed Suryakumar Yadav hitting the first century for India. On January 7, against Sri Lanka in the third T20I game, Suryakumar Yadav scored 112 runs in 51 balls, registering a strike rate of 219.6, including seven fours and nine sixes. India won the game by 91 runs.

Rishabh Pant

(Credit- NDTV Sports)

India’s flamboyant batter-cum-wicketkeeper was India’s first century hitter in 2022. From January 11 to 15, India played a Test match in Cape Town against South Africa. In the second innings of that match, Pant had scored 100 runs in 139 balls. His innings included four maximums and six fours. Unfortunately, India lost the game by seven wickets and the series, losing two out of three games.

Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma was also India’s first century hitter in 2021. He achieved the feat against England with an innings of 161 runs in 231 balls, which included 18 fours and two maximums at a strike rate of 66.70. Sharma’s long-standing efforts in the first innings helped India win the game by a massive margin of 317 runs.

2026?

Who will hit the first century for India in 2026? It is incredibly hard to determine, but when ChatGPT was asked to predict, the AI strongly hinted at Virat Kohli, given his prowess in ODI, followed by Shubman Gill. For the record, the last time Virat Kohli scored India’s first century in a year, it was in 2018. ChatGPT’s prediction almost came true in the first game and we hope in the next game, Kohli will be the man.