Virat Kohli can break this record in WTC final (2021-23)
Indian batter Virat Kohli has been among the runs lately. Besides scoring over 600 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year, the 34-year-old has a Test century in his bag. Kohli will now bolster India's batting order in the ICC World Test Championship final against Australia. He now eyes the 700-run mark in the ICC knockouts. Here are the key stats.
Why does this story matter?
The Champions Trophy in 2023 was the last ICC trophy that India clinched. Team India participated in eight ICC events across formats but fell short every time ever since. However, Kohli has been at the forefront in most of the games, scoring runs aplenty. In the upcoming WTC final, Kohli can break Ricky Ponting's record of scoring the most runs in the ICC knockouts.
Kohli set to surpass Tendulkar and Ponting
As of now, Kohli has slammed 620 runs in 15 at an average of 51.66 in ICC knockout games The tally includes six fifties. In terms of runs, Kohli is only behind legends Sachin Tendulkar and Ponting. Tendulkar holds the second spot with 657 runs, and Ponting leads the tally with 731 of them. With another ton, Kohli could surpass the duo.
Most runs in T20 World Cup knockouts
As many as 288 of Kohli's 620 runs in the ICC knockouts have come in the T20 World Cup. He reads the runs tally in these matches by a mile. Notably, Kohli has 50+ scores in each of the four ICC T20 World Cup knockout matches where he featured, including the 2014 final against Sri Lanka. His scores read 72*, 77, 89*, and 50.
What about his 50-over record?
In 50-over ICC knockout matches, Kohli has scored 275 runs from 10 matches at an average of 34.37. The tally includes two fifties. His highest score of 96* came in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy quarter-final against Bangladesh.
His only ICC knockout Test appearance
In his only ICC knockout Test match (WTC final 2019-21 against New Zealand), Kohli scored 44 and 13 in the two innings. However, India lost that match by eight wickets.
Kohli's overall record in ICC tournaments
As far as the overall numbers in the ICC tournaments are concerned, Kohli is one of the three batters to have scored over 4,000 runs. He has racked up 4,503 runs from 97 matches across formats at an average of 49.48 in these matches. The tally includes five tons. Kohli is only behind England's Joe Root, who owns 5,013 runs in this regard.
