Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli will be over the moon for completing a special journey in the game. One of cricket’s GOAT – Kohli completed 11 years in international cricket. It has been one hell of a journey. Kohli’s career so far has been nothing short of extraordinary feats and achievements. No wonder, he has taken the game to another level in these 11 years.
Coming to his run-scoring abilities and the records associated with it, there’s nobody else in the modern day that has gone so far as the Indian skipper. Be it ODIs and Tests, Kohli’s ability to notch records has been a fairytale ride. When one sees the overall impact across formats, Kohli is no doubt the best in the world. He has earned that tag.
The right-handed batsman made his international debut for Team India on August 18, 2008 in an ODI against Sri Lanka. In that match, Kohli played as an opener and managed to score 12 off 22. Over the last 11 years, Kohli has established himself and the numbers have been staggering.
Kohli while playing against West Indies in the third ODI recently, slammed his 43rd career ODI ton. During the course of his unbeaten 114 from 99 deliveries, the Indian skipper become the first batsman to score 20,000 international runs in a single decade.
This is a rare feat notched by any batsman. Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting held the record for scoring most international runs in a decade with 18,962 in the 2000s. To step up and surpass this feat is remarkable.
The star cricketer is also the fastest to 10,000 runs in ODI cricket. This majestic feat was achieved against West Indies in 2018 when Kohli smashed a splendid 157*. The 30-year-old cricketer achieved the feat in his 205th inning as he surpassed Sachin Tendulkar who did it in 259 innings in 2001.
Kohli holds the record to be the quickest to 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year. Last year, Kohli scored 1,000 runs in just 11 innings. This saw him eclipsing former South African hero Hashim Amla, who managed the feat in 15 innings.
He is also the first player to hit 100s in three consecutive innings against two opponents. It came against West Indies and Sri Lanka respectively.
The 30-year-old scripted a record in which he became the first captain ever to score five successive fifties in a World Cup. In 2019 Cricket World Cup, he registered scores of 82, 77, 67, 72 and 66 to etch his name in the record books.
During the 2019 World Cup, Kohli became the fastest cricketer to score 20,000 international runs. He needed just 417 innings to reach the milestone and bettered the time taken by legends such as Sachin Tendulkar and Brain Lara.