When Indian captain Virat Kohli walks out on the field at the Manuka Oval in Canberra on Wednesday, December 2, 2020, for the third and final ODI of the series against Australia, it will be his 251st match and he will be just 23 runs shy of breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record in ODIs.
Kohli has 11977 runs in 250 ODI matches thus far, and if he reaches the 12,000-run mark in the 3rd ODI, he will break Sachin Tendulkar’s record for being the fastest batsman to that mark. Tendulkar reached the 12,000-run milestone in his 309th match and 300th inning and was the first to achieve that feat.
If Kohli manages to do so, he would reach the mark in his 251st ODI, and 242nd innings.
Overall, Kohli will be the sixth player on the list, only after Australia’s Ricky Ponting, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya, and Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene.
Plus, a century by Virat Kohli will put him equal with Sachin Tendulkar for the record of most centuries against Australia in ODI cricket. Kohli has 8 ODI centuries thus far against Australia and another one will help him equal the legend’s record.