Image: Social media erupts as Virat Kohli reaches historic 15,000 ODI run milestone in record innings / © News18
For the first ODI against West Indies in Thiruvananthapuram, Virat Kohli added another major record to his remarkable ODI career by becoming only the second batter to cross 15,000 runs in the format, after Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli reached the milestone during India’s run chase when he hit a boundary off Alzarri Joseph in the 29th over, taking his score to 65 from 48 balls.
Kohli reached 15,000 ODI runs in just 303 innings, beating Tendulkar’s previous mark of 377 innings. He was also quicker in terms of deliveries faced, achieving the milestone after 15,950 balls compared to Tendulkar’s 17,528. The record further underlined Kohli’s consistency and scoring rate throughout his ODI career.
The match also saw Kohli bring up his 80th ODI fifty, with his 46th half-century coming during a successful run chase. He continued his impressive innings by scoring a century from 74 balls, making it his third-fastest ODI hundred. The century was Kohli’s 55th in ODIs, the most by any batter in the format. It also took his List A century tally to 60, bringing him level with Tendulkar.