Virat Kohli: The undisputed monarch of ODI Cricket
To say that Virat Kohli is in form would be an understatement. The batting maestro has amassed runs at will against every opposition, tamed every bowling attack and has emerged as the undisputed monarch of ODI cricket.
He is already the 12th highest run-getter and the 2nd highest century maker in ODI format of the game. The master batsman also holds the record for being the fastest to score 10,000 runs; he did it in just 205 innings (an incredible 54 innings less than the second-placed Tendulkar). And to top it all, he is just 30 years old!
The insatiable appetite for runs sets Kohli apart from any other batsman, including the great Tendulkar. He has taken batting to statistically astronomical heights never seen before in ODI cricket. And in the 208 innings that he has played, Kohli averages a staggering 59.84. He has the highest average for any batsman to have played a minimum of 40 innings in ODI cricket. The next highest on the list is former Australian cricketer Michael Bevan who averages 53.38 from the 196 innings that he played.
The manner in which Kohli has dominated ODI cricket in the last 3 years almost ranges on the verge of absurdity. He has been the fulcrum of the Indian batting line up for over 3 years now and his resplendent deeds with the bat have allowed the Indian team to come out on top in crucial run chases.
The master batsman has amassed a colossal 3401 runs from at an astounding average of 94.47 including a staggering 15 hundreds in his last 50 innings. No other batsman in world cricket has scored more runs or notched up more hundreds in ODI cricket in the last 3 years than Kohli. And finally, in the year 2018, Kohli has crossed the three-figure mark 6 times in the 14 innings that he has played, averages a Bradmanesque 133.56 and has a strike rate of 102.56.
Kohli is a man who just loves challenges. A huge chase against a quality bowling attack gets his competitive juices flowing. That he averages an incredible 69.35 while chasing as compared to 49.51 when his team is batting first just goes on to show how Kohli raises his game when confronted with a target to chase.
Out of Kohli’s 38 ODI hundreds, 23 have come while chasing a target. Also, Kohli’s ‘away’ average is a mind-boggling 58.32. That out of his 10,232 runs, 5,949 (around 58.14%) have come away from home, just goes on to show that Kohli thrives under any condition and against any bowling attack.
With the kind of passion that he has, the kind of importance that he gives to his fitness and given his huge appetite for runs, it would be safe to assume that Kohli still has at least another 7-8 years of International cricket left in him. And at the age of just 30, he is already considered by many as one of the greatest batsmen to have ever graced the ODI format of the game.
in all probability, it looks like Kohli, who as a boy grew up watching Sachin Tendulkar bat on television, will end up overhauling his batting idol and reach dizzying peaks not seen before in ODI cricket. And when that happens, and it will - that is the nature of sport, there will be no one who will be happier than Tendulkar himself.