4 Batting records which make Virat Kohli the undisputed batting king of ODI cricket

Virat Kohli scripted history by becoming the fastest batsman to scale the herculean 10000- run mark in ODI cricket. Kohli got to the milestone when he reached the individual score of 81 runs during an innings of 157 runs against West Indies in the second ODI at Vishakapatnam.

The Indian skipper took only 205 innings to reach the milestone. He became only the fifth Indian and the thirteenth batsman overall to join the exclusive club. He joins former Indian batting greats like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni as the highest run-getter for India in ODIs.

Virat Kohli has been hailed as the best batsman in white ball cricket owing to his superlative consistency in registering match-winning knocks for team India. The Indian skipper has struck a purple patch with the willow contributing immensely to the success of the Indian team.

Kohli has developed a near to perfect batting technique which allows him to dominate the best of bowling attacks in the world. His penchant to score match-winning tons while chasing daunting targets has earned him the title of ‘Chase Master’. The thing which really stands out in Virat Kohli’s batting; is his ability to convert his starts into daddy hundreds.

Kohli has all the weapons in his batting arsenal to be hailed as a complete stroke maker. Be it his stable head position, perfect balance and wristly all-round strokeplay- his batting is a master class.

Virat is a conventional stroke maker and plays a risk-free game to accumulate runs in the middle order. He also has the ability to step up the tempo with a flurry of shots from his batting arsenal. An intense fitness regimen has kept him injury free for a major part of his career and has helped him endure the grind of playing all three formats of the game.

Over the last five years, he has been the leading run-getter for India in ODI cricket and the greatest match winner with the willow. Coming in to bat at number three, Kohli spearheads a potent middle order and builds on the strong platform given by the lethal opening duo of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan.

Since taking over the ODI captaincy from MS Dhoni, Kohli's batting has gone up a notch and his run-scoring prowess continues to win India matches.

The Indian ODI skipper has smashed most of the batting records in his ten-year-old stellar career and is destined to break a few more before calling it a day. The recipe behind Kohli's phenomenal success as an ODI batsman has been a burning passion and never-ending desire to play match-winning knocks for India. So, let us celebrate and have a look at the batting records owned by Virat Kohli in the limited overs format of the game.

ICC World Twenty20 India 2016: India v Australia

4. Fastest to 8000, 9000 and 10000 runs in ODI cricket

Virat Kohli just does not score runs but scores them at a pretty quick pace. In just over a decade in international cricket, Kohli has racked up 10000 ODI runs at a staggering average of 58. He has been the quickest to reach most of the run scoring milestones.

The elegant strokemaker is the fastest Indian to get to 1000 ODI runs. Kohli also holds the record for being the fastest batsman to get to 8000 and 9000 ODI run milestone. He was also the second fastest behind South African Hashim Amla in completing 5000, 6000 and 7000 ODI runs.

These achievements are no mean feat considering the fact that India had some prolific run scorers in Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag who were regarded the best in their time.

3. Most centuries by Indian skipper in ODIs – 15 tons

Virat Kohli’s batting has gone up a notch since taking over the ODI Indian captaincy from Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Kohli seems to be enjoying his batting while leading the side and assumes responsibility to spearhead the team’s batting efforts.

Virat has scored the most tons as India's ODI skipper. He has raced ahead of former Indian captains like Sourav Ganguly (11), Sachin Tendulkar (6), MS Dhoni (6) and Mohammad Azharuddin (4).

Virat has scored 15 ton while leading India in ODIs. It clearly indicates that Virat has blossomed as a premier batsman while donning the captaincy hat.

India v Pakistan - ICC Champions Trophy

2. Highest century-maker in run-chases – 22 tons

Virat Kohli has been India’s greatest match winner with the bat in international cricket. He is known to score daddy hundreds to help India cross the finishing line. The Indian fans are used to Kohli stitching an innings by milking the singles and then pressing on the acceleration button towards the end of an innings with a bang.

One has lost count on how many times Kohli has remained unbeaten and been part of successful run chases till the very end. Talking about the record, he has scored 22 ODI tons while batting second or chasing targets. Out of those 22 tons, 20 have contributed to the victory of team India in ODIs.

1. Highest century-maker among currently active batsmen in ODI cricket – 37 tons

With 37 ODI tons to his name, Kohli is the leading ODI centurion among the active set of batsmen. South African batting maestro Hashim Amla (26), West Indian opener Chris Gayle (23), belligerent Indian opener Rohit Sharma (20) and Kiwi veteran Ross Taylor (19), round off the top five with 20 or more ODI tons.

Virat has gone past batting greats like Ricky Ponting, Sanath Jayasuriya and Jacques Kallis and now stands second behind Sachin Tendulkar in the list of all-time century makers in ODI cricket.