3 records even Virat Kohli will find difficult to break
Indian captain Virat Kohli continued his glorious form in international cricket, registering his seventh double hundred against South Africa at Pune on Day 2 of the second Test. En route to his unbeaten 254, which enabled India to declare on 601 for 5, Kohli surpassed a number of records.
With seven double centuries, Kohli is now at the top of the list among Indians with most double hundreds. He earlier shared this record with two other legends - Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag.
Kohli’s 254 is now also his personal best in Test cricket, overtaking the 243 he made against Sri Lanka at Delhi in December 2017. The Indian skipper also crossed the 7000-run landmark during his imperious innings.
With every record that he breaks, fans and cricket pundits are left astounded as they try to imagine the heights Kohli could attain by the time he calls it a day. However, there are a few statistical highs that even the modern-day run machine might find difficult to conquer.
Here’s a look at three records Kohli might find difficult to break.
#3 Most ODI fifties
It is almost a given that Kohli will break the record for most ODI hundreds in history. He has 43 centuries in 239 matches, and is just six away from equally Tendulkar’s record of 49 tons, which the master blaster amassed over 463 matches.
However, the same cannot be said about the record for most ODI fifties.
During his two decade-long career, Tendulkar notched up a mammoth 96 half-centuries to go with his 49 centuries. One of the reasons the Mumbai man ended up with close to hundred half-centuries was that he batted in the middle-order for the first few years of his career, during which he didn’t get too many opportunities to play long innings.
The other fact is of course that he batted in 452 ODI innings, and hence was bound to score a lot of fifties.
Kohli currently has 54 fifties. Even if he plays for another five years, reaching 96 half-centuries could be a tough ask. One of the big reasons why he may not achieve this record is because he almost invariably converts his fifties into hundreds!
Also see – World Test Championship Schedule