Decoding Virat Kohli's dream run in ICC white-ball tournaments
Virat Kohli shattered a plethora of records with a match-winning knock in India's 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup opener against Australia at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium. The Indian batting talisman displayed remarkable character against a formidable Aussie attack and smashed a 116-ball 85. During the course, he also became India's highest run-getter in ICC white-ball tournaments. Here we look at his stats.
Another brilliant knock by Kohli
Chasing 200, Kohli came to the middle after India lost opener Ishan Kishan in the first over. Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer also departed for ducks, which put the onus on Kohli and KL Rahul (97*). The duo gave an exhibition of resistance and endurance thereafter. Kohli played meticulously, having scored just six fours in his knock. India won the duel by six wickets.
Kohli goes past Sachin
With his 20th run, Kohli went past Sachin Tendulkar's tally of 2,719 runs in ICC white-ball tournaments (ODI WC, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy). Kohli now has 2,785 runs in 67 games in this regard at 64.76 (100s: 2, 50s: 26). Mahela Jayawardene (2,858), Kumar Sangakkara (2,876), and Chris Gayle (2,942) are now the only ones ahead of Kohli on this list.
Most fifty-plus scores in World Cup events
Kohli has the most fifty-plus scores in World Cup events (ODIs and T20Is combined). While the batting stalwart has crossed the 50-run mark 23 times in these events, Tendulkar holds the second place with 21 such scores. Kohli has 21 fifties and a couple of hundreds under his belt. Notably, he also has the most fifty-plus scores (28) in events.
10th-highest run-getter in ODI WCs
Kohli struck his seventh ODI WC fifty. He also owns two tons. In 27 ODI WC matches, Kohli now owns 1,115 runs at 48.47. He has now become the 10th-highest run-getter in WC history. With 2,278 runs, Tendulkar is the only Indian with more WC runs than Kohli. Kohli is featuring in his fourth World Cup edition, having appeared in 2011, 2015, and 2019.
Over 500 runs in Champions Trophy
Kohli has also featured in three editions of the ICC Champions Trophy, which is hailed as the mini World Cup (2009, 2013, and 2017). With 529 runs in 13 games at a remarkable average of 88.16, Kohli is the 11th-highest run-getter at the event (50s: 5). Shikhar Dhawan (701), Sourav Ganguly (665), and Rahul Dravid (627) are the only Indians ahead of him.
Most runs in T20 World Cups
Kohli has the most runs in ICC T20 World Cup history, 1,141 in 27 games. The 2022 event saw him displace Sri Lankan legend Jayawardene (1,016) at the top. Kohli's tally of 14 half-centuries is also the highest. His average and strike rate read 81.5 and 131.30, respectively. He has been a part of four T20 WCs so far (2012, 2014, 2016, and 2022).
