Thiruvananthapuram: Batting stalwart Virat Kohli on Sunday became only the second men’s batter after Sachin Tendulkar to complete 15,000 runs in ODI cricket. Kohli reached the landmark during India’s ongoing chase of 296 against the West Indies in the ODI series opener.
Kohli, 37, got to the coveted landmark in style in the 29th over by swivelling to pull a short ball from Alzarri Joseph that raced away to the deep midwicket fence. That boundary led to the crowd at the Greenfield International Stadium rising to its feet and applauded loudly for Kohli.
Kohli needed a moment to soak in the feeling and raised his bat in acknowledgement. He punched gloves with India ODI skipper Shubman Gill, shared a hug with him and quickly settled back at the crease, with the chase still far from done.
Kohli, the right-handed batter, needed only 315 innings to cross the 15,000 runs mark after having made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in August 2008. Tendulkar, who crossed the 15,000 runs mark in his 350th innings in 2007, finished his ODI career in 2012 with 18,426 runs from 463 matches. It also makes Kohli the fastest to reach 15,000 runs in ODI cricket.
Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, with 14,234, is the only other batter to have gone past 14,000 in the format. Ricky Ponting (13,704) and Sanath Jayasuriya (13,430) complete the top five on the all-time list of run-getters. The milestone is the latest in a long line of records for Kohli, who has made a habit of reaching run landmarks faster than anyone else in his ODI career.
He became the fastest to 10,000 ODI runs in 2018 by getting there in 205 innings, and had taken just 11 innings to move from 9,000 to 10,000 runs. He also holds the record for the quickest route to 8,000, 9,000, 11,000, 12,000, 13,000 and 14,000 runs in the 50-over format internationally.
Kohli had already taken one of Tendulkar’s most cherished records when he struck his 50th ODI hundred during the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup semi-final against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and went past the batting great’s tally of 49 tons.
He now has 54 ODI centuries, the most by any batter in a single format, and no one else in 50-over cricket has even reached 35. With the way Kohli is batting in Thiruvananthapuram, it won’t be a surprise if Kohli registers his 55th ODI ton, as the batting stalwart prepares to play his final World Cup for India through the mega event happening next year in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
(IANS)
