Virat Kohli Goes Past the Likes of Azharuddin and Ganguly to Set a New Record as Captain
Oct 22, 2017 at 7:38 PM
Virat Kohli has been breaking batting milestones one after the other. In the opening ODI against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Kohli went past the likes of former Indian captains Mohammad Azharuddin and Sourav Ganguly to become the highest run scorer as the captain of the Indian team in a single year.
Kohli, playing in his 200th ODI, also became the 2nd batsman to smash a century on his 200th ODI. He played a magnificent innings of 121 of 125 balls and bailed India out of trouble when wickets were falling on a consistent basis. It was his well-constructed innings which helped the hosts reach a competitive 280 on the board at the end of their allotted 50 overs.
Kohli now has 1318 runs as the captain of the team in 2017. Azharuddin had scored 1268 in 1998 as the Indian skipper while Ganguly scored 1223 runs in 2000 when he was made the Indian skipper. In the 40 ODI matches Kohli has led India so far, he has the best winning percentage. Under him, India has won 31 out of 40 ODI’s which gives him a staggering win percentage of 77. While Ganguly led India in 146 matches, Azhar was India’s captain in 174 matches.
It was also Kohli’s 31st century of his ODI career and is now only behind Sachin Tendulkar in the list of Most centuries. He has now gone past the likes of Ricky Ponting, and if he scores at this rate, Tendulkar’s record is not far away. He also became the highest run-getter after 200 ODI’s going past AB de Villiers with 8,621 runs and Sourav Ganguly with 7,747 runs. He also became the 14th Indian player to play 200 or more ODI’s. Sachin Tendulkar has played the most ODI’s for India with 463 matches under his belt.
Meanwhile, the match is in the balance at the moment with New Zealand on 93/3. They still require 188 to win in 182 deliveries. Tom Latham and Ross Taylor who scored centuries in the 2nd practise game are at the crease at the moment.