Virat Kohli breaks Sachin Tendulkar's record for most runs by an Indian in white-ball ICC tournaments

Star India batter Virat Kohli broke Sachin Tendulkar's record for the most runs by an Indian in white-ball ICC tournaments during the ICC World Cup 2023 match against Australia at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday, October 8.

Virat Kohli managed to go past the 2,720-run mark in his 67th match, breaking the ‘master blaster’ Tendulkar's impressive record of 2,719 runs in 61 matches. Kohli achieved this feat with a breathtaking average of 65.23, including two centuries and 25 half-centuries. On the other hand, Sachin Tendulkar amassed over 2000 runs in white-ball ICC tournaments at an average of 52.28, with seven centuries and 16 fifties.

It's important to note the context of this record - Virat Kohli achieved this feat by participating in all three major white-ball ICC tournaments, including the ICC ODI World Cup, ICC ODI Champions Trophy, and ICC T20 World Cup. Sachin Tendulkar, on the other hand, never had the opportunity to showcase his prowess in T20 World Cups, competing only in the ODI World Cup and ODI Champions Trophy.

India captain Rohit Sharma, World Cup-winning



all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, former skippers Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni and current head coach Rahul Dravid are the next best Indian batters in white-ball ICC tournaments. While Rohit has scored 2422 runs in ICC limited-over tournaments, at an average of 46.19, Yuvraj amassed 1707 runs in ICC limited-over tournaments, at an average of 34.77. Sourav Ganguly scored 1671 runs, MS Dhoni hit 1492 runs and Rahul Dravid registered 1487 runs in the white-ball ICC tournaments for India.

Talking about the match, India got off to a nightmarish start, with three of their top four batters falling for ducks. Facing a target of 200 runs against Australia in Chennai on a Sunday, India found themselves in dire straits at 2 for 3. However, it was the partnership between Virat Kohli and KL Rahul that brought hope and redemption to India's innings following those early setbacks.

Kohli and Rahul joined hands and shared a 100-plus stand for the fourth wicket to redeem India's innings after the huge early jolts. Both Kohli and Rahul went on to score their respective fifties to revive India's chase of 200 in their World Cup opener against Australia.