In the decade since he made his India debut as a 19-year-old, Virat Kohli has not only stamped his class as a batsman – at home and abroad – but has also led India to many historic and memorable victories.
Over 11,000 runs in ODIs, 7,000 in Tests and 2,400 in T20Is, India’s captain in all formats, Virat has already etched his place among the country’s top cricketers. He has, time and again, stood tall and led his team by example. As the skipper enters his 31st year, let’s take a look at 31 records he holds.
1.
Virat scored a massive 973 runs in 16 matches during the ninth edition of the IPL – the most runs scored by a player in a T20 competition.
2.
With scores of 107, 157* and 140 against West Indies in October 2018, Virat became the first Indian to score hundreds in three consecutive ODIs.
3.
With a century against New Zealand at Kanpur in October 2017 and three straight hundreds against West Indies, Kohli went past Pakistan’s Zaheer Abbas to become the only player in the world to score 4 hundreds in consecutive home ODIs.
4.
Almost 800 runs ahead of AB de Villiers, Virat holds the record for most runs by a captain after 56 One Day Internationals.
5.
Against South Africa in South Africa in 2018, Virat became the first batsman to score over 500 runs in a bilateral ODI series. He also set the record for most runs in a bilateral ODI series, with 558 runs in 6 matches.
6.
He is the only captain to score four hundreds in T20 cricket in a calendar year; all four centuries were scored in IPL 2016.
7.
In December 2017, Kohli surpassed Brian Lara to set the record for most double centuries scored by a Test captain.
8.
Virat is the only batsman in the world to average above 50 across all formats.
9.
With 4,935 runs in 51 Tests as skipper, Virat holds the record for most runs by an Indian captain in Test cricket.
10.
And also, the record for most 100s by an Indian captain in Test cricket, with 19 centuries as captain at an average of 63.69.
11.
Three among the top five highest scores by an Indian captain in Test cricket belong to Virat. This includes a 254 against South Africa in 2019 – the highest score by an Indian captain in Test cricket.
12.
In the list of most runs by an Indian Test captain in a calendar year, Virat has made an entry three years running – 2016, 2017 and 2018.
13.
He rewrote his own record of fewest innings to 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year after taking just 11 innings to reach the feat in 2018.
14.
He took the fewest innings to cross the 2,000 run – (56 innings) marks in in T20Is.
15.
Virat holds the records for fewest innings to 8,000 ODI runs (175 innings), 9,000 ODI runs (194 innings), 10,000 ODI runs (205 innings), 11,000 ODI runs (222 innings)!
16.
With a 3-0 Test series win over South Africa last month, Virat is the first Indian skipper to record three clean sweeps by such a margin – the first two occasions being vs New Zealand in 2016-17 and vs Sri Lanka in 2017.
17.
Under Virat Kohli's captaincy, India enjoy a success percentage of 60.78, winning 31, losing ten and drawing the remaining 10 out of 51 Tests contested. Kohli has extended his captaincy record for India in Tests.
18.
The king of run-chases, Virat has scored the most number of centuries (26) while chasing in One Day Internationals.
19.
Virat has won the most Man of the Match awards for India in T20Is – 11 awards in 72 matches. With one more award, he will match Mohammad Nabi’s record for most MoM awards in the shortest format (12).
20.
He holds the record for most runs by an ODI captain in a year – 1,460 runs in 2017.
21.
Before turning 31, Virat scored a total of 43 ODI centuries – the most by any cricketer at this age.
22.
With 286 runs in 3 matches, Virat holds the record for most runs by an Indian captain in Test series in South Africa.
23.
He also has the most runs by an Indian captain in Test series in England – 593 runs in 5 matches.
24.
Surpassing the likes of Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar, Virat set the record for most runs by an Indian batsman in the Test series in Australia.
25.
Virat became the first Indian captain to win five consecutive ODI series at home.
26.
He is the only player to score 100s in his first three Test innings as captain.
27.
Last year, Virat surpassed Rahul Dravid to become the Indian batsman with most runs in an international cricket season.
28.
Among the 12 batsmen to have scored over 20,000 runs across formats in international cricket, Kohli is the only one to have averaged above 50 (57.00).
29.
Virat is the only man to hit double hundreds in four consecutive Test series.
30.
Virat Kohli holds the record for the most runs in a calendar year by an Indian across all formats. He scored 2818 runs in 2017 in which he played 46 matches and 51 innings.
31.
Virat Kohli has smashed the fastest century by an Indian in ODIs. He achieved the feat against Australia in Jaipur in 2013 when he reached his ton in 52 balls.
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