3 records that can be broken in today’s India vs Pakistan match of the 2023 World Cup ft. Virat Kohli
A lot of records are on the line for today's India-Pakistan clash in Ahmedabad for the 2023 World Cup.
There's a possibility of broadcasters and digital platforms recording their highest viewership of a cricket match ever. They are already talking about this one match during breaks in all other matches, so that might be some kind of a record too.
It's also the first match that has an exclusive ceremony with many superstar artists performing. Plus, it could be the first encounter between these teams which might see empty seats despite the ticketing partner showing tickets to be sold out.
These are the things that most Indian social media handles and TV graphics would likely show you. We are not here to talk about that, though. We are here to tell you some real records and milestones to watch out for, involving players from both teams.
Check them out:
#3 Shubman Gill requires 83 runs to get to 2000 runs in ODIs
After missing the first two matches of the 2023 World Cup due to dengue fever, Shubman Gill is likely to return to the playing 11 against Pakistan today. Indian captain Rohit Sharma said he's "99% available" for selection in his press conference.
If he plays, the right-handed opener would be close to smashing another big record in his still nascent ODI career. At 1917 ODI runs after 35 innings, he's 83 runs short of the 2000 mark. If he reaches that today in his 36th innings, he'll beat South African legend Hashim Amla's record of reaching the milestone in 40 innings.
Left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan (45 innings), whom Gill incidentally replaced in the team, is the current fastest Indian to 2000 ODI runs.
#2 Mohammad Rizwan is chasing the same record, though with more particularity
Although he's far from the overall record, Mohammad Rizwan is only 108 runs away from becoming the fastest Pakistani wicketkeeper to score 2000 runs in ODIs.
Twenty-eight Pakistanis have crossed the mark in ODIs but only three of them -- Kamran Akmal, Moin Khan, and Sarfaraz Ahmed -- have been regular wicketkeepers. All of them, courtesy of their batting position, took a lot of time to breach the mark.
Rizwan is currently at 1892 runs after 61 ODI innings and has a 17-innings buffer to beat Sarfaraz (78 innings), Kamram (88) and Moin (111).
#1 Virat Kohli could be the fastest to 26,000 international runs
Virat Kohli needs just 93 runs to become only the fourth-ever batter after Sachin Tendulkar, Kumar Sangakkara, and Ricky Ponting to reach 26,000 runs across international cricket. If he reaches there today, in his 566th innings, he'll be the fastest to the landmark. Tendulkar reached the landmark in his 600th innings.
Although there are no data available for Ponting and Sangakkara for how many innings they took to reach 26,000 runs, all three of them used more than 566 innings to even reach 25,000 runs. Tendulkar took 577 innings for 25,000 runs while Ponting and Sangakkara took 588 and 608 innings, respectively.
Moreover, if Kohli scores 121 runs tomorrow, he'll go past Tendulkar to be India's highest run-scorer against Pakistan in ODI World Cups. He's currently at 193 runs after three matches compared to Tendulkar's 313 runs from five matches.