Virat Kohli celebrates after hitting four runs to reach his century and win the match
Credit: Reuters File Photo
Virat Kohli hit an unbeaten 100 and showcased his penchant to lord over Pakistan in ICC tournaments once more as India beat their traditional rivals by six wickets in the Champions Trophy on Sunday.
India comfortably reached their target of 242 with 45 balls to spare, thanks to Kohli (100 not out off 111) and Shreyas Iyer's classy 67-ball 56 and Shubman Gill's brilliant start of 46 off 52 balls.
With two wins in as many games, India are all but through to the semifinals.
In a special innings at Dubai International Stadium, the 36-year-old broke multiple records on Sunday. Take a look:
Quickest batter to score 14,000 runs in ODI
Virat Kohli created history as he became the quickest batter to score 14,000 runs in One-Day Internationals, surpassing the legendary Sachin Tendulkar's previous record, during the Champions Trophy clash against Pakistan.
Kohli is now only the third batter in ODI cricket to have scored 14,000 runs, after Tendulkar (18,246 runs) and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara (14,234 runs).
The India No. 3 needed only 15 runs on Sunday to reach the milestone, which he did with a four through covers off Haris Rauf in the 13th over of the run chase.
Kohli is the quickest-ever to the milestone, having completed his 14,000 ODI runs in 287 innings. Before him, Tendulkar had taken 350 innings to reach the feat while Sangakkara took 378 outings.
Coincidentally, both Kohli and Tendulkar scored their 14,000th ODI run against Pakistan.
The 36-year-old modern-day great was also the fastest to 13,000 runs, which he had completed in September 2023 against Pakistan in Colombo during the Asia Cup.
Most 50+ scores in ICC ODI tournaments
Virat Kohli also equalled Sachin Tendulkar's record of scoring most 50+ scores in ICC’s ODI tournaments. Both Indian batters now hold 23 50+ scores in ICC ODI tournaments.
Sachin scored 6 centuries and 15 fifties in 45 ODI World Cup matches and 1 century and 1 fifty in 16 Champions Trophy matches. Kohli has 5 centuries and 12 fifties to his name in the ODI World Cup and 1 century and 5 fifties in the Champions Trophy.
Most catches by any Indian fielder
Kohli had gone past former captain Mohammad Azharuddin’s record of most catches by any Indian fielder when he took his 157th catch in his 299th ODI.
Azharuddin had taken 156 catches in his 334 ODIs for India between 1985-2000. Kohli took a forward diving catch after running in from long on to dismiss Pakistan’s Naseem Shah off Kuldeep Yadav. He then took his 158th catch when he grabbed his second of the match at deep midwicket to dismiss Khushdil Shah off Harshit Rana.
Most runs in International cricket
Virat Kohli broke Ricky Ponting’s record of 27,483 runs in international cricket, becoming the third leading run scorer in the list.
Ponting played 560 matches across formats and scored 27,483 runs for Australia while Kohli has 27,503 runs to his name now in 547 matches for India.
Only Sachin Tendulkar (34,357 runs) and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara (28,016 runs) are ahead of Kohli in this list.
Most runs against Pakistan in ICC tournaments
The unbeaten 100-run knock in Dubai on Sunday helped Kohli become the most run scorer against Pakistan in ICC tournaments. Kohli has now a tally of runs to 433 in nine matches against Pakistan in ICC ODI tournaments. He broke Rohit Sharma’s record of 370 runs.
Highest POTM awards against Pakistan in ICC tournaments
Kohli’s unbeaten 100 helped helped him won his 5th Player of the Match award against Pakistan in ICC tournaments. No other player has won more than three POTM awards against a single opponent in ICC tournaments.
(With inputs from PTI)