New Zealand vs India 2020: Virat Kohli goes past Sourav Ganguly to join elite list of Indian captains
During the first ODI between New Zealand and India in Hamilton, Virat Kohli went past Sourav Ganguly in the list of Indian skippers with most ODI runs to occupy the 3rd position in the list behind Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Mohammad Azharuddin. Given Kohli's batting prowess in ODIs, he is expected to leapfrog both Azharuddin and Dhoni in the coming time.
As a captain in ODI cricket, MS Dhoni has scored 6641 runs so far while Azharuddin occupies the 2nd spot with 5239 runs under his belt. Meanwhile, Kohli who scored a fine half-century during the opening ODI against New Zealand went past Sourav Ganguly (5082) in the process and has scored 5123 runs as a captain so far.
Ever since taking over the reins of the ODI team from MS Dhoni in 2017, Kohli has been very consistent with the bat and has led from the front. Barring an unfortunate World Cup semi-final loss at the hands of New Zealand, India had a great 2019 winning majority of the bilateral tournaments.
Meanwhile, India suffered their first defeat in the tour of New Zealand in the 1st ODI as the hosts chased down a stiff target of 348 with relative ease in the end. Riding on a maiden ODI century from the blade of Shreyas Iyer and a sensational 88 by KL Rahul, India posted 347 on the board which looked enough at the halfway mark.
However, Ross Taylor and Tom Latham had other ideas. The pair shared a sensational stand of 138 runs between them to take the hosts within touching distance of the victory target. Eventually, they sealed the victory in the 48th over to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.