Another day, another record for superstar Kohli
port-of-spain — On the way to his 43rd century in one-day international cricket, Indian skipper Virat Kohli set yet another world record as he became the first batsman to score 20,000 international runs in a decade.
On Wednesday, Kohli scored his second consecutive century to help India beat West Indies by six wickets in the third and final ODI of the three-match rubber.
The 30-year-old played an unbeaten knock of 114 to help India chase down the revised target of 255 (DLS method), thereby clinching the series 2-0.
On the list of most international runs scored in a decade, Kohli is followed by former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting who scored 18,962 runs. Former South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis is third on the list with 16,777 runs, followed Mahela Jayawardene (16,304 runs), Kumar Sangakkara (15,999 runs), Sachin Tendulkar (15,962 runs), Rahul Dravid (15,853 runs), and Hashim Amla (15,185 runs).
Kohli’s ton on Wednesday also helped him equal Tendulkar’s record of most number of centuries against a single opposition in ODI cricket. While Kohli has scored nine centuries against Windies, Tendulkar had scored nine tons against Australia.
The Indian skipper is also just one century away from equalling Ricky Ponting in the number of centuries scored by a skipper in ODIs. Meanwhile, Kohli has said that he did not suffer from a fracture after he was hit on the thumb during India’ victory on Wednesday.
In the 27th over of India’s run chase of 255 on Wednesday, Kohli was hit on the right thumb by a Kemar Roach bouncer. The 30-year-old was seen in pain but after being attended to by the physio, he continued batting. At the post-match presentation ceremony, Kohli said he “should be good” to play in the first Test of the two-match series starting on August 22.
“I don’t think it’s a fracture otherwise I wouldn’t have continued (batting). It’s just a split of the nail,” Kohli said
Further at the post-match press conference, the India skipper said: “Luckily, it’s not broken. When I got hit I thought it was worse than what it turned out to be. But it’s not broken so I should be good for the first Test.”