Asia Cup 2023: 4 records milestones that can be broken in today’s India vs Nepal match ft. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
Indian players were on the verge of breaking a lot of records before they played Pakistan in the 2023 Asia Cup on Saturday. However, most of the potential record-breakers failed before the second innings was washed out.
Their first-ever international match against Nepal could be the perfect opportunity to revisit those records. The Himalayan team is ranked 15th in the ICC men's ODI rankings and is just coming off a 238-run thumping defeat against Pakistan.
They have quality players in all departments but India, who have a habit of taking big wins against smaller nations in tournaments, will start as clear favorites.
Here are four records, some old and some new that can be broken today:
#1 - Virat Kohli needs 98 runs to become the fastest to 13,000 ODI runs
Virat Kohli got out cheaply against Pakistan for just 4 (7). Now, he needs 98 runs in his next 55 innings to become the fastest-ever to reach 13000 runs in ODIs.
He'd fancy that against a Nepal attack that lacks sting in the middle overs.
Not only this, Kohli needs just 30 more runs to become the second-highest run-getter in Asia Cup history across both ODI and T20I formats. He is currently at 1046 runs from 20 innings, only behind Kumar Sangakkara (1075 runs from 23 innings) and Sanath Jayasuriya (1220 runs from 24 innings).
#2 Shubman Gill needs 53 runs to become the fastest batter to score 1,500 ODI runs
Playing his first-ever match against Pakistan, Shubman Gill got out for just 10 (32). He started extremely slowly and went into a shell as wickets fell from the other end before eventually losing his wicket to a full in-swinger from Haris Rauf.
This was only his second double-digit score in the last seven international matches, slightly increasing the concern on his batting form ahead of the World Cup. However, a lightning-fast start to his ODI career means that Gill is still in touching distance to becoming the fastest batter to score 1,500 ODI runs.
He's at 1447 runs from 27 innings and needs 53 runs to break former Netherlands all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate's record of reaching the landmark in 32 innings.
Today's match against Nepal would be the perfect opportunity to break the record and get some rhythm back into his batting for the Super-Four stage.
#3 Rohit Sharma needs two more sixes to hit the most over boundaries by an Indian in the Asia Cup (ODI format)
Shubman Gill's opening partner Rohit Sharma hit a couple of fours but no sixes against Pakistan during his 11-run knock off 22 balls. He got outfoxed by an excellent set-up and a near-unplayable delivery from Shaheen Shah Afridi after the first rain break.
This means that the skipper still needs just a couple of sixes to make it 17 in total and break Suresh Raina's record for most sixes (18) by an Indian in the ODI format of the Asia Cup. Shahid Afridi holds the overall record with 26.
#4 Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma just two runs shy of becoming the fastest pair to reach 5,000 runs
It's been a long time since we saw a big Kohli-Rohit partnership for India. One of India's greatest ODI pairs, they are just two runs short of becoming the fastest to reach 5000 partnership runs in ODIs.
They are at 4998 runs after 85 innings and would break Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes' record of 97 innings.