Indian cricketer Virat Kohli added another remarkable chapter to his illustrious career by achieving two major milestones during India’s second ODI against England at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Thursday, July 16.
The 37-year-old batting superstar became the highest run-scorer in ODI matches played at the home of the opposition. Virat Kohli needed 46 runs to go past former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara’s record of 5,518 runs and reached the landmark on the fourth ball of the 24th over of India’s innings.
Kumar Sangakkara had scored his 5,518 runs in 149 ODIs played in opposition countries. Virat Kohli, meanwhile, achieved the feat in just his 126th ODI at the home of the opposition, highlighting his incredible consistency away from India.
With this innings, Virat Kohli’s tally in away ODIs (outside India) climbed to 7,981* runs from 183 matches. He now requires another 65 runs to become only the third Indian batter to reach the 8,000-run mark in away ODI matches.
At present, Sachin Tendulkar leads the list among Indian batters with 11,450 away ODI runs, followed by Sourav Ganguly with 8,111. Overall, only seven batters in world cricket have crossed the 8,000-run milestone in ODI matches played away from home.
Virat Kohli also overtook Rahul Dravid to become the Indian batter with the most international runs in England across all formats. After managing just five runs in the first ODI at Edgbaston on Tuesday, July 14, Kohli needed only four runs in the second ODI to surpass Dravid’s tally. He reached the milestone by striking a boundary off Jofra Archer on the fourth ball of the ninth over.
Having played his first international match in England in 2011, Virat Kohli now has 2,688 runs while batting on 46 in 75 innings across 59 matches in the country. Rahul Dravid had previously scored 2,645 runs in 56 innings of 46 matches in England between 1996 and 2011.
The latest records further strengthened Virat Kohli’s legacy, as the Indian batting great continued to rewrite the record books with yet another memorable performance on the English soil.
