Virat Kohli has made it a habit of breaking batting records. The Indian cricket team captain, who has been in the form of his life in the recent times, reached another batting milestone during his knock of 75 against South Africa in the fourth ODI at Johannesburg on Saturday.
The 29-year-old batting maestro went past former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin’s tally of 9,378 runs to become the fifth highest run getter for the country in the ODIs. He also surpassed West Indian Chris Gayle’s tally of 9.420 runs to take 16th place on the list of highest run getters in the 50-over format. He has now 9,423 runs from 206 matches.
Among Indians, Sachin Tendulkar is the highest run getter in the ODIs with 18,426 runs from 463 matches with the help of 49 hundreds. Sourav Ganguly (11,363), Rahul Dravid (10,889) and MS Dhoni (9,954) follow him on the list. At this stage, Kohli appears the only player capable of toppling Tendulkar’s batting records in ODIs.
Kohli has been in top form in the ongoing six-match ODI series against the Proteas. In the four matches so far, he has amassed 393 runs at an astonishing average of 196.50 with the help of two match-winning tons and one half century. Saturday’s innings also made him the second batsman after AB de Villiers to accumulate 350-plus runs in an ODI bilateral series in the Rainbow Nation. De Villiers had aggregated 367 runs against Pakistan in 2013.
The Indian captain’s half-century on Saturday, though, went in vain as South Africa beat India by five wickets in a rain-curtailed game. India still lead the series 3-1. The fifth match would be played in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday.
{{/usCountry}}The Indian captain’s half-century on Saturday, though, went in vain as South Africa beat India by five wickets in a rain-curtailed game. India still lead the series 3-1. The fifth match would be played in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday.
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