The dust is yet to settle on Virat Kohli's memorable ton on Sunday (January 15) when he wrote yet another chapter in his glorious career. Smashing 166 unbeaten in Trivandrum against Sri Lanka, the 34-year-old is now just tons short of Sachin Tendulkar's tally of 49 hundred in the ODI format. It presents only a matter of time before he surpasses the tally and becomes the first player to score 50 ODI hundreds. But the big question that comes into the context is, is Virat Kohli the greatest ODI player of all time?
What does the numbers game say?
Currently, on 46 tons, Virat should go past the great Tendulkar in 2023. The Indian team is due to New Zealand in the ODI series which could help him further narrow the gap for tons. On the flip side, like Sachin, Virat too has won the ODI World Cup which counts him among the best.
While the tally of runs remains a big hurdle, Virat can still narrow that in the coming years. As things stand, he still has three to four years of top-quality cricket left in him. Sachin has 18426 runs in 463 ODI matches, while Virat has 12754 runs in 268 matches. At the time of writing, the gap of 5672 runs would represent a big hurdle for him to cross but eventually, if Virat resides on the big stage for a long time, he could yet surpass that tally as well.
Comparisons with Sachin Tendulkar
It is worth noting that, Virat has an average of 58.23 which is much superior to Sachin who has an average of 44.83. Virat is yet to score a double ton in the format and has a best of 183 compared to Tendulkar's unbeaten 200 in 2009 against South Africa.
When it comes to the number of fifties, Sachin remains miles ahead but has played more ODIs than the Delhi batter. Tendulkar has 96 fifties and 49 hundred, which sees him have 145 innings of more than fifty runs. Virat on the horizon has 110 innings of fifty-plus scores.
Comparing Virat to some of the greatest players like Adam Gilchrist and Sir Vivian Richards, he has a special designation. While Gilchrist is one of the best in the business and won multiple ODI World Cups, Virat too can match the greats by winning his second ODI World Cup in 2023. If this is the case, he will have a bigger claim than Sachin Tendulkar as who is the 'Greatest ODI Player'.
