Virat Kohli has been chasing Sachin Tendulkar‘s numbers, stats, and records for quite some time now. Over the years, he’s gradually surpassing one record after another of Tendulkar. But perhaps there has been no bigger record that Kohli has broken of Tendulkar than what he achieved on Sunday in Chennai.
India kicked off their World Cup 2023 campaign with a 6-wicket win over Australia at the Chepauk by chasing down the target of 200 runs in 41.2 overs. After Ravindra Jadeja starred with the ball with a three-wicket haul, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul did the heavy lifting with the bat.
In the chase, India lost three quick wickets – Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Shreyas Iyer, all gone for ducks – and were 2/3 in 2 overs, before Virat Kohli (85) and KL Rahul (97*) resurrected the innings with their partnership of 165 runs which put India in a winning position.
Going past Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli becomes the GOAT in ODI run-chases
With his knock of 85 against Australia in Chennai, Virat Kohli became the leading scorer of all-time in successful ODI run-chases: he now has 5517 runs in ODI run-chases in games which India ended up winning, a record previously held by Tendulkar who scored 5490 runs in chases.
Kohli’s average of 88 in successful ODI run-chases puts Tendulkar’s average of 55 miles behind. This average of 88 reflects how key and integral Virat Kohli has been for over a decade in taking India over the line in ODI run-chases. Kohli has 22 centuries in successful ODI run-chases while Tendulkar had 14.
While many had already hailed Kohli as the greatest ODI run-chases before the World Cup started, now breaking Tendulkar’s record further puts Kohli’s GOATness in run-chases in perspective.
Meanwhile, India’s next game in the World Cup is against Afghanistan on October 11 in Delhi. If the pitch in Delhi is similar to what it was for the South Africa vs Sri Lanka game, and if India bats first, we might see a century from Kohli. He now has 47 ODI centuries to his name, just two behind Tendulkar’s tally of 49 ODI hundreds.
