Fifteen freakish numbers from Virat Kohli’s 15-year international career
Sampath Bandarupalli18-Aug-2023
More than 500 kilometres between wickets
In his 15-year-long international career, Virat Kohli has run roughly 277km between wickets for his non-boundary scoring shots. He’s also covered some 233km for his partners’ runs when he’s been at the crease, taking the tally to approximately 510km. Only once has Kohli run an all-run four to date, during an ODI in 2013 against Zimbabwe.ESPNcricinfo Ltd
An average of 518
Kohli’s success with the bat in T20 World Cups is well documented. He was Player of the Tournament in both 2014 and 2016, and his record in chases is particularly outstanding. India have won nine of the ten matches during which he has batted in chases, and he’s remained unbeaten on eight occasions.Kohli averages 270.5 in those ten chases, which is nearly twice the average of the next best, Marcus Stoinis (146), among batters to have played a minimum of five innings. Kohli’s average shoots up to 518 in successful chases, close to five times that of the second-best, Cameron White (104).
Helmet off at 46 venues
Kohli has played at 83 venues in his international career so far, and has scored hundreds in 46 of them. Adelaide Oval is the standout venue for Kohli; it has witnessed five of his 76 tons. Only one player has had a hundred on more grounds than Kohli — Sachin Tendulkar, unsurprisingly, at 53 venues.ESPNcricinfo Ltd
A perfect start to World Cups
Kohli made a dream start to his World Cup career with an unbeaten century against Bangladesh in Dhaka in the opening match of the 2011 edition. A year later, he scored a fifty on his T20 World Cup debut against Afghanistan, to become the first player to complete the double of a hundred on Men’s ODI World Cup debut and a fifty on Men’s T20 World Cup debut. Aaron Finch matched this double, with a fifty in the 2014 T20 World Cup and a century on the opening day of the 2015 ODI World Cup.
Excelling in oppositions’ backyards
Kohli has scored a century in all nine countries where he has played ODI cricket, and in seven of the eight countries in Test cricket, with Bangladesh the only exception. He has scored both Test and ODI hundreds in six countries against the home team — Australia, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, South Africa and West Indies. Only two players have had both Test and ODI tons against the host nation in as many or more countries as Kohli — seven by Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara.
Nearly 1000 runs in ten innings
In 2018, between February and October, Kohli scored nearly 1000 runs in a span of ten ODI innings. Kohli amassed 995 runs between his 197th and 206th ODI innings at an average of 142.14, with five hundreds and three fifties. It is the best 10-innings ODI streak for any batter. He surpassed by 138 runs the previous record held by David Warner for scoring 857 runs between October 2016 and June 2017.
166 not out thumps 73 all out
Virat Kohli made 166 not out against Sri Lanka in the Thiruvananthapuram ODI earlier this year, as India plundered 390 for five in their 50 overs. They went on to win by a record 317 runs, the biggest-ever in men’s ODIs, as Sri Lanka were bowled out for only 73.Kohli alone outscored the Lankans by 93 runs, the second-biggest difference between a batter’s score and the opposition’s total in a men’s ODI game. The highest also came during an India-Sri Lanka ODI, when Sanath Jayasuriya made 189 and outscored India (54 all out) by 135 runs in 2000.
Dealing in double tons
Until 2016, Kohli had 11 hundreds in 41 Tests, but had gone past the 150 mark only once — 169 against Australia in Melbourne in 2014 — and had been dismissed seven times below 120. But between 2016 and 2019, he converted seven of his 15 hundreds into double hundreds, an Indian record. Kohli also became the first-ever player with double tons in four consecutive Test series — scoring them against West Indies, New Zealand, England and Bangladesh in the 2016-2017 period.
A unique double
Kohli recorded the fastest ODI hundred for India in 2013, a 52-ball ton against Australia in Jaipur after coming in to bat in the 27th over. Later in the same series, he smashed a 61-ball ton in Nagpur, the third fastest for India in the format. Kohli walked in to bat in the 30th over in Nagpur, making him the only batter with multiple hundreds in ODI chases while coming in to bat after the 25th over. Kevin Pietersen, Abdul Razzaq, Jacob Oram and Jos Buttler are the only other batters with a hundred in an ODI chase having arrived after the completion of the 25th over (where data is available).
Going 5-0 three times
Kohli’s first full assignment as India captain was the 2013 tour of Zimbabwe, where he led India to a 5-0 win in the ODI series, a result he witnessed twice more as captain in the next few years. In the absence of MS Dhoni, Kohli successfully led India to a 5-0 win against Sri Lanka at home in 2014. In 2017, Sri Lanka were once again on the receiving end of a 5-0 defeat, this time in their backyard. Kohli remains the only captain in men’s ODI cricket with three whitewashes in series of four matches or more.
Making it count in big chases
Though Kohli is three hundreds away from equaling Sachin Tendulkar’s record 49 hundreds in the ODI format, he is well ahead while chasing. He now has 26 centuries in ODI chases, nine more than Tendulkar’s 17. As many as nine of Kohli’s chasing hundreds have come when India have been in pursuit of 300-plus targets. The nearest contender on this list is Jason Roy, with five such hundreds, while four other batters have four tons apiece in 300-run target chases.ESPNcricinfo Ltd
India’s youngest debutant opener
Virat Kohli made his International debut in an ODI against Sri Lanka in 2008, aged 19 years and 287 days. He opened the innings in that game, making him the youngest Indian to open on men’s ODI debut, a record that still stands. Only three players younger than Kohli have opened the batting for India in men’s ODIs — Parthiv Patel, Yuvraj Singh and Vinod Kambli. Kohli, who opened in all five matches during that series, has returned to the position only twice more in these 15 years.
The zeroth ball wicket
Virat Kohli opened his wickets tally in T20Is even before he bowled a legitimate delivery. He had Kevin Pietersen stumped off a wide in 2011 when he came on to bowl his first ball in the format. He remains the only player to claim a wicket off his 0th ball in any format in men’s internationals.There have been only three other instances of a bowler taking a wicket before bowling their first legal delivery in a men’s T20I innings: Graeme Swann against Shoaib Malik in 2010, Sunil Narine against Martin Guptill in 2012 and Shakib Al Hasan against Lendl Simmons in 2014.
Master of the big stand
Kohli has regularly been part of long partnerships in ODI cricket. He holds the record for featuring in 13 double-hundred stands. He has shared five of them with Rohit Sharma, the most by any pair in the format. Rohit is second on the list, having been part of ten double-century stands, while no other player has featured in more than seven. The other eight double-hundred stands of Kohli have involved six partners — Gautam Gambhir (three), Virender Sehwag, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Kedar Jadhav and Ishan Kishan.
Jamaica to Jamaica
Virat Kohli made his Test debut at Sabina Park in 2011, shortly after being part of India’s World Cup triumph. Eight years later, at the same venue, Kohli was crowned India’s most successful captain in Test cricket when they beat West Indies by 257 runs. With 28 wins as India Test captain, Kohli surpassed MS Dhoni’s 27 wins. Kohli added 12 more victories, finishing with 40 Test wins, the fourth-highest for any captain.
