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Virat Kohli becomes fastest batsman to surpass 8000 runs milestone In ODI cricket

Virat Kohli becomes fastest batsman to surpass 8000 runs milestone In ODI cricket

With his fluent knock of 96 in the second semi final of the Champions Trophy yesterday, Indian skipper Virat Kohli became the fastest batsman in modern cricket to make 8000 ODI runs, pushing out AB de Villiers by seven fewer innings. Kohli crossed the 8000 runs-milestone in his 175th innings, edging out de Villiers who crossed the milestone in his 182nd innings back in August 2015.

Riding on the back of Kohli’s innings as well as Rohit Sharma’s 123, India registered a convincing 9-wicket victory against Bangladesh to enter the finals of the Champions Trophy, where they will meet arch rivals Pakistan.

Sourav Ganguly (200 innings) and Sachin Tendulkar (210 innings) are third and fourth on the list, showing the complete domination of modern Indian batsmen.

Kohli has an overall average of 54.4 in the 175 innings he has played, with an astounding strike rate of 91.04, and 27 centuries. He completed his 42nd half century yesterday on his way to 96 not out. Kohli has had a dream run in international cricket for quite some time now, as evinced by the fact that he scored a whopping 1940 runs in the last calendar year. Since taking over as captain of the team across all formats, he has guided his team to greater heights – India finished the No.1 team in Test cricket last year, with a 9-0 record. Only two teams have managed a lossless season before – Australia in 2003 and England in 2009.

The skipper was a picture of humility, though, when asked about the milestone and if it was hard at all.

“Well, it’s not been difficult at all. I am really enjoying the way I am batting. For me, the number of runs, do not matter at this stage.

“I am really enjoying the process, and something which is, you know, giving me joy is that whatever I am practising and how I prepared after the Indian Premier League, is paying off in this tournament. So I am pretty happy getting the team across the line, honestly,” there was a sense of satisfaction in his voice as he replied to the query.

With the pressure cooker match against Pakistan on Sunday, Kohli will be backing himself and his team to do well, and the fans will be hoping he finds the golden touch again at the Oval in one of the most watched cricket matches in recent memory.

TOP 5 Batsmen Fastest Batsman To Surpass 8000

1  Virat Kholi in 175 Innings

2 AB De Villiers in 182 Innings

3 Sourav Ganguly in 200 Innings

4 Sachin Tendulkar  in 210 Innings

5 Brain Lara in 211 Innings

Youngest players to score 8000 runs in ODIs:

Sachin Tendulkar in 26y 45d
Virat Kholi in 28y 222d
Yuvraj Singh in 29y 102d

About the author

Aiman

Keenly interested in sports of all sorts, I am a physicist by training and curious about everything.