Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday achieved yet another milestone as he became the sixth captain to complete 9,000 runs in international cricket and the fastest to achieve the feat. it took Kohli just 159 innings to achieve the feat and break former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting’s record, who had amassed 9,000 runs as a captain in 204 innings.
After losing the toss, India got off to a poor start losing opener Rohit Sharma cheaply as he was sent back by pacer Pat Cummins for a duck. Shikhar Dhawan (21) then combined with Kohli to add 38 runs for the second wicket before he was dismissed by Glenn Maxwell. Ambati Rayudu (18) also went back without having much of an impact. However, Kohli continued his brilliant run on the other end and partnered with Vijay Shankar (46) to add another 81 runs for the 4th wicket and steady the ship for India.
Kohli has been one of the most prolific run-getters in world cricket in the past couple of years. In 2018, he notched up a brilliant 1202 in 14 ODIs and completed 10,000 runs in ODIs becoming the fastest to do so leaving behind the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. In 2019, Kohli has continued his fine form and has already crossed the 400-run mark in ODIs in just eight games. He was batting on 66 off 74 deliveries when this story was published with India on 171/5 after 33 overs.