Virat Kohli celebrates his 36th birthday today, and the batting icon would have loved to mark the special occasion with a Test win over New Zealand — just like exactly a year ago, when he scored a century in the ODI World Cup on his 35th birthday. But a year on since that day, Kohli is going through a challenging period as a cricketer. Nevertheless, the man who has led India to many memorable victories and has given moments to cherish, remains an unparalleled icon.
The immediate next challenge Kohli faces is the tour of Australia, where India will play five Tests for the Border Gavaskar Trophy beginning November 5 in Perth. While Kohli and Team India prepare for that tough assignment, here’s a look at some of the famous records in Kohli’s name:
– Most ODI centuries: Kohli went past Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 hundreds in one-day internationals with a century (117) against New Zealand in the ODI World Cup semifinal last year.
– Fastest to 13,000 ODI runs: Kohli broke another Tendulkar record when he reached the milestone of 13,000 runs in ODIs in 267 innings. Tendulkar did that in 321 innings.
– Most runs in an ODI series and World Cup: Kohli’s 765 runs during the 2023 edition of the ODI World Cup is the most in the history of the tournament, earning him the ‘Player of the Tournament’ award. However, India went down to Australia in the final to finish as runners-up.
– Most hundreds against one team: Kohli’s 10 centuries across formats against Sri Lanka is the most against one team by a batsman.
– Most Player of the Series awards (T20Is): Kohli’s 7 ‘Player of the Series’ awards in the shortest format of the game is the most by a cricketer.
– Most Player of the Series awards (all formats): Kohli has earned the distinction of winning 21 ‘Player of the Series’ awards in ODIs, T20Is and Tests combined.
– Most fifties in T20Is: The batting icon has scored 39 T20I half-centuries, which is the most by a batsman.
