Virat Kohli is the best batsman of his generation and he has achieved what every batsman dreams of. In the last 7 years or so, Virat has taken his game to another level and established himself as one of the greatest batters of all-time.
However, in the recently concluded tour of New Zealand, the Indian captain found it difficult to face Kiwi premier pacers, Tim Southee and Trent Boult and struggled in the middle, more often than not. Kohli could not even cross 20 runs in any of the four innings he played against New Zealand in the two-match Test series.
After losing the Test series against New Zealand, a section of the Indian cricket fans started to criticize Virat Kohli for his poor run in the Test series and posted trolling content against him on social media.
In this post, we take a look at 10 stats that SHOUT ‘Virat Kohli does not deserve the criticism for having just one bad series’. He has been the most consistent batsman in the world for the last 5 years or so, and fans must respect him for his dedication, passion, and consistency.
Let’s have a look at his outstanding records, here:
10. Most international runs in the last decade:
The right-handed cricketer was not even a regular player in the Indian team at the start of the last decade. But, he has become one of the greatest cricketers of all time at the end of the last decade. During the last decade, the current Indian skipper has played 380 international games where he plundered a total of over 20,000 runs. Virat Kohli became the first cricketer to score 20,000 international runs in a single decade.
9. Fastest player to reach 10,000 ODI runs:
The current Indian skipper, Virat Kohli is the fastest cricketer to reach 10K runs in the ODI format. He achieved this milestone when he scored an unbeaten 157 against West Indies in 2018. Kohli, who achieved this feat in 205 innings, surpassed his idol Sachin Tendulkar who did it in 259 innings.
8. The first player to clean sweep ICC awards:
Virat Kohli is the first cricketer to clean sweep the ICC’s annual individual awards. In January 2019, The right-handed batsman became the first cricketer to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year for the second time in a row. Virat Kohli also bagged the awards of the ICC Test and the ODI player of the year.
7. Most international centuries among active players:
The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli has scored more centuries in international cricket than any active player. In the longest format of the game, Kohli has scored 27 centuries and Australia’s best batsman, Steve Smith is at 2nd spot with 26 centuries. Kohli, who has 43 centuries already in the ODI format, has made a big difference of 14 centuries with the 2nd spot player. Rohit Sharma, who is next to his skipper in the list, has 29 centuries. Across all formats of the international game, Kohli has plundered 70 centuries and Australia’s David Warner, who has the next best of 43 centuries, is nowhere near to the Indian captain.
6. Most international 50+ scores in a calendar year for India:
Virat Kohli has scored 21 50+ scores for in a calendar year. Though the list has conquered by the former Indian skipper, Sourav Ganguly, who has 23 half-centuries in a single calendar year, no one has managed to cross even 20 fifty-plus scores for the second time except Kohli. The right-handed batsman has done it five times. He has scored 20 fifty-plus scores in five different calendar years.
5. The first captain to score five consecutive fifties in World Cup history:
During the 2019 Cricket World Cup, the Indian captain, Virat Kohli has registered five consecutive fifties and created a new world record. He has scored 82 against Australia, 77 against Pakistan, 67 against Afghanistan, 72 against West Indies and 66 against England. With the five consecutive fifties in the 2019 Cricket World Cup, Kohli became the first captain to smash five consecutive scores of 50+ runs in the Cricket World Cup.
4. 1st Test captain and 1st Indian to score 1,000 runs in three consecutive calendar years:
Virat Kohli holds the records of scoring at least 1,000 runs in Test cricket in three consecutive calendar years. He is the first Indian and the first Test skipper to achieve this feat. The right-handed batsman plundered 1,214 runs in 2016, 1,059 runs in 2017 and 1,322 runs in 2018 to achieve this milestone.
3. Most 90s in the last decade:
Virat Kohli holds the record of scoring most number of the 90s by an Indian in international cricket in the last decade. He scored a total of 10 nineties in the international cricket between 2010 to 2019. Overall, he is just behind the Kiwis skipper Kane Williamson, who has registered eleven 90s in the last decade.
2. The only player to win Man of the Tournament awards in 2 T20 World Cups:
Virat Kohli is not an aggressive player but he has proven a lot of times that he can play big shots when needed. He is the only cricketer to win the Player of the Tournament Award in two ICC T20 World Cup tournaments. In 2014, he was named as the man of the tournament when he took his team to the finals by hammering 319 runs from just 6 games at a humongous average of 106.33.
In 2016, Kohli won the player of the tournament award for his 272 runs from 5 games at an average of 136.50. Though India could not clinch the title, Kohli’s performance was amazing as he scored a lot of runs under a pressure.
1. Most ODI 100s in winning cause:
Virat Kohli has amassed 43 centuries in the One-Day International cricket. With these 43 centuries, he has helped his team to win the game on 36 occasions which are most by any cricketer in this format. While chasing the target, he wants to stay at the crease until the target is chased and that is the reason why it is called the chasing master.
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