New records for Kohli, update on India hosting World T20 and more - Cricket News Today, 5th March 2019

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India faced Australia in the second ODI at Nagpur today and Virat Kohli scored his second ODI ton of 2019. It was his 40th ODI ton overall, and he is now just nine hundreds away from equaling the great Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI tons.

Meanwhile, Kane Williamson is closing in on the No. 1 spot in the ICC Test Rankings for batsmen, trailing Kohli by just 7 rating points.

England are on the last leg of their tour to the Caribbean, and begin a three-match T20I series today as they look to end the tour on a high. Meanwhile, India, who are supposed to host the ICC T20I World Cup in 2021 and the next 50-over World Cup in 2023, are battling against the ICC to hold on to those big events.

Here are all the top news that made headlines in the cricketing world today.

Virat Kohli becomes fastest to 9,000 international runs as captain

Every time Virat Kohli steps on to the field, there seems to be some or the other record waiting for him. In the second ODI in Nagpur, the Indian skipper struck a fighting 116, his 40th ODI ton; he was the major contributor in India’s total of 250. It was also Kohli’s 65th international hundred.

During his 120-ball knock, the 30-year-old also became the fastest to 9,000 international runs as captain. He got to the landmark in 159 innings, beating Ricky Ponting’s record of 203 innings.

Kohli walked in during the very first over, and batted beautifully. On what was a tricky pitch where the ball was not quite coming on to the bat, he was the lone warrior for India - the next best score was 46 by Vijay Shankar, and no one apart from the Kohli and Shankar scored in excess of 25.