Finance
Virat Kohli in action during Cricket World Cup 2023 match between India and Australia© AFP
Virat Kohli added another major milestone to his already illustrious career as he broke Sachin Tendulkar’s stunning record during the Cricket World Cup 2023 match between India and Australia in Chennai on Sunday. Kohli scored a gritty half-century to guide India to victory and in the process, became the highest run-scorer for the Indian cricket team in ICC limited-over tournaments (World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy). The record previously belonged to Tendulkar who scored 2718 runs in 58 appearances. On the other hand, Kohli now has 2785 runs in 64 appearances.
Most runs for India in ICC limited-over tournaments
2785 – Virat Kohli (64 Inns)*
2719 – Sachin Tendulkar (58)
2422 – Rohit Sharma (64)
1707 – Yuvraj Singh (62)
1671 – Sourav Ganguly (32)
Kohli channelised his inner champion to pull the Indian team out of choppy waters with a masterly 85, which paved the way for a six-wicket victory over Australia in their opening match of the World Cup.
Kohli found a trusted ally in uber-cool KL Rahul (97 not out off 115 balls) during their match-winning stand of 165 that eventually made the 200-run target seem like a cakewalk on a testing track although they took 41.2 overs to achieve it.
Their doughty alliance came after three Indian top-order batters returned to the pavilion without troubling the scorers. Even India captain Rohit Sharma was full of praise for Rahul and Kohli.
“I was (nervous), you don’t want to start your innings like that, credit to the Aussies bowlers as they bowled in good areas but some loose shots as well, when you have that kind of target you want to score as much as possible in the powerplay, but credit to Virat and KL on how they went about the chase. That is going to be the challenge for us as a team, moving to different conditions and adapting, whoever suits the conditions will have to come and do the job. Chennai never disappoints, they love their cricket and for them to sit in that heat and come out and cheer for the team says a lot,” said Rohit after the match.
But equally responsible for India getting two points are their spinners. Ravindra Jadeja (3/28 in 10 overs) along with Ravichandran Ashwin (2/34 in 10 overs) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/42 in 10 overs) made life miserable for the Australians while bowling them out for 199 in 49.3 overs.
