Nagpur: Records and Virat Kohli seem to go hand in hand. En route to his 40th ODI hundred here (seventh against Australia) Kohli broke Ricky Pontings record to become the fastest to reach to 9,000 international runs as captain. Kohli achieved the distinction when he took his individual score to 22.
Kohli smashed Ponting’s record by a considerable margin. The former Australian skipper reached 9,000 runs in his 203rd innings. Kohli on the other hand took just 159 innings to record the feat.
It should be stated here that Kohli became the sixth batsman in the world to score 9,000-plus runs as captain. The four other than Ponting, who have achieved the feat are Stephen Fleming (New Zealand 272 innings) Alan Border (Australia, 257), MS Dhoni (India, 253) and Graeme Smith (South Afrca, 220).
Sachin Tendulkar with 49 ODI hundreds holds the record of maximum number centuries by a batsman in the format. Kohli, now has scored 40 tons and it can safely be said that Tendulkar’s achievement is under threat. Tendulkar got 49 hundred in 463 matches (a century in every 9.45 games). Kohli’s conversion rate in this aspect is also much better than the former iconic Indian batsman. Kohli gets a century in every 5.60 game and that certainly is an amazing achievement.
Kohli now has 65 international centuries (40 in ODIs and 25 in Tests). The way he is progressing, there is every possibility that he may soon get to 100 international centuries, a feat so far only achieved by Tendulkar in the game.
