Virat Kohli
Indian skipper Virat Kohli achieved a massive feat during the second ODI of the three-game series against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday. Kohli became the fastest batsman to 22000 international runs en route to his 89-run knock in the must-win tie.
Overall, Kohli became the eighth batsman to the feat after Sachin Tendulkar (34357 runs), Kumar Sangakkara (28016 runs), Ricky Ponting (27483 runs), Mahela Jayawardene (25957 runs), Jacques Kallis (25534 runs), Rahul Dravid (24208 runs) and Brian Lara (22358 runs).
Breaking down Kohli's 22000 international runs, Kohli scored 7240 runs in Test cricket at 57.68 an average with 27 hundreds, 11888 runs in the ODI format at an average of 59.14 with 43 tons and 2794 runs in the T20Is.
Earlier in the day, Kohli became the joint second-fastest to 2000 ODI runs against Australia, achieving the feat in his 40th innings, same as Sachin Tendulkar and standing only behind Rohit Sharma on the list who had amassed the tally in 37 innings. Kohli also became the ninth Indian to play 250 ODI matches.
Talking about the match, the top five fired in unison, scoring their respective fifty-plus scores to drive the hosts to a colossal 389 for four - their highest ODI total against India surpassing their previous best of 374 for six achieved in the ODI series opener on Friday. Aaron Finch and David Warner stitched a 142-run stand before Steve Smith scored a second successive ton and 11th in the format while managing a century stand as well, alongside Marnus Labuschagne. Glenn Maxwell then added the finishing touches with his 29-ball 63.
In response, the openers - Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan - got India off to a promising start with yet another half-century partnership. But both departed successively. India lost Shreyas Iyer shortly after, but Kohli remained the key in the chase with his 102nd fifty-plus score.
He was eventually dismissed by Josh Hazlewood for the second straight time in the series, courtesy a stunner at short mid-wicket from Moises Henriques.
