ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Virat Kohli on the verge of becoming the fastest to 8,000 ODI runs
Indian captain Virat Kohli is on the verge of creating a world record in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. The 28-year-old batsman currently has 7,912 ODI runs in 174 innings (182 matches) and is chasing South African ODI captain AB de Villiers’ record of being the fastest to 8,000 ODI runs. AB currently holds the record, having got to the mark in 182 innings (190 matches) and Kohli has to score 88 runs in the next seven innings to overtake AB and claim the record.
Kohli has been in stunning form in ODIs ever since his debut in August 2008. Aside from his debut year in ODIs, the Indian batsman has averaged below 40 in a calendar year in ODIs just once. He averaged a staggering 92.37 in ODIs last year and is currently averaging 85.50 this year.
Among all players who have played at least 100 ODIs, Kohli is one of only five players (others being AB de Villiers, Michael Bevan, MS Dhoni and Hashim Amla) to have a career ODI average in excess of 50. Although he still has seven innings to claim the record, it looks like he will get to the mark in the Champions Trophy itself.
In the group stages, Kohli has scored 157 runs including two unbeaten fifties and given the fact that he is likely to play his next game against Bangladesh in the semi-final of the tournament, a side against whom he averages nearly 70 in ODIs, you wouldn’t bet against him doing that either.
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India’s Sourav Ganguly held the record for 13 years before it was broken by South Africa’s AB de Villiers in 2015 against New Zealand at Durban. And it looks as though the record looks likely to return to an Indian batsman as current skipper Kohli, who lost the record of being the fastest to 7,000 ODI runs to Hashim Amla, is in fantastic form.
The Proteas batsman is the only one to have scored 8,000 ODI runs in under 200 innings and it looks as though Kohli will not only join him as the second on that list but also overtake him and claim another world record.
Among the top ten fastest to that mark, there are three Indians in the top five. Along with West Indies, who also have three players, India have the most players in the top ten while Australia and South Africa have two and Pakistan have one.
Here is the complete list of the fastest to 8,000 ODI runs (in terms of innings):
Fastest to 8,000 ODI runs
| No. | Player | Matches | Innings |
| 1 | AB de Villiers (South Africa) | 190 | 182 |
| 2 | Sourav Ganguly (India) | 208 | 200 |
| 3 | Sachin Tendulkar (India) | 217 | 210 |
| 4 | Brian Lara (West Indies) | 216 | 211 |
| 5 | MS Dhoni (India) | 243 | 214 |
| 6 | Saeed Anwar (Pakistan) | 221 | 218 |
| 7 | Desmond Haynes (West Indies) | 220 | 219 |
| 8 | Ricky Ponting (Australia) | 225 | 220 |
| 9 | Chris Gayle (West Indies) | 226 | 221 |
| 10 | Mark Waugh (Australia) | 230 | 223 |
| 10 | Jacques Kallis (South Africa) | 233 | 223 |
NOTE: Statistics accurate as of June 12, 2017.