14 years ago on this day, August 18, 2008, Virat Kohli stepped foot in the international arena for the first time, when donning the blue jersey as a 19-year-old he strut out against Sri Lanka in Dambulla in an ODI game as an opener.
Although then he scored only 12 runs in his maiden ODI outing, over the next dozen years, Kohli attained greatness in the game as a batsman and a captain. With 23726 runs, Kohli is India’s all-time third-highest run-scorer in international cricket, only behind Rahul Dravid (24064) who Kohli is likely to surpass, and the Everest – Sachin Tendulkar (34357) who now Kohli is unlikley to suprass given his recent dipping form.
Nonetheless, as we celebrate 14 years of Virat Kohli in international cricket, here are 14 big records which the Delhi-born cricketer has made:
- Kohli is the fastest batsman to reach 10000 ODI runs. He took just 205 innings to the reach the milestone, breaking the record held by Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, who did it in 259 innings.
2. He took only 10 years and 68 days to achieve 10000 ODI runs. This is the fastest by any batsman to reach 10000 ODI runs. The previous record was held by Rahul Dravid, who had completed the feat in 10 years and 317 days.
3. Kohli is the fastest person to score 1000 ODI runs in a calendar year (11 innings). The previous record was held by Hashim Amla who had achieved the feat in just 15 innings.
4. The 30-year-old is the first batsman to hit three consecutive hundreds against two separate opponents. He achieved this feat against Sri Lanka and the West Indies.
5. He is the fastest batsman to reach 4,000 runs as captain in Tests. He reached the landmark in just 65 innings. The previous record was held by Brian Lara, who had scaled the height in 71 innings.
6. Kohli is the first captain to make 200 runs across two innings of a Test match for the tenth time.
7. The 30-year-old is the only batsmen to score over 300 runs in a bilateral ODI series on six different occasions.
8. The Indian skipper scored his sixth double hundred as a captain in December 2017 – the most by any captain. The previous record was held by Brian Lara, who had five such scores in his captaincy stint.
9. Kohli is the first captain to hit six ODI hundreds in a calendar year.
10. He has been involved in most double-century partnerships with a single batting partner, sharing four such stands with Rohit Sharma.
11. Virat Kohli is the fastest to score 9000 ODI runs, reaching the milestone midway through his 194th innings. He broke the record held by AB de Villiers, who had achieved it in 205 innings.
12. The right-hander is the first batsman to hit four double-centuries in as many Test series.
13. He has the most number of centuries (23) while batting in the second innings of an ODI.
14. The man from Delhi is the only player to score more than 15,000 runs at an average of over 50 in his international playing career.
