Canberra: A true modern-day great, Virat Kohli adds another feather to his decorated cap as he becomes the fastest player in ODI cricket to score 12,000 runs. The India skipper achieved the record in the third and final ODI against Australia in Canberra on Wednesday. Kohli only needed 23 runs to achieve the milestone as he arrived on the pitch, having scored 110 runs already in the two matches this series.
The record was held by none other than the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar earlier who had scaled the Mt. 12k in 309 matches (300 innings) but Kohli when on to surpass his idol having reached the landmark in 251 matches (242 innings). Tendulkar had held the record for a whopping 17 years, having reached the milestone smashed a boundary against Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi at Centurion in 2003. Apart from Kohli and Sachin, the likes of Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, and Mahela Jayawardene are the other batsmen to have scored 12,000 or more runs in ODI cricket.
Players to complete 12,000 ODI runs in fewest matches:
Virat Kohli - 251 matches, 242 innings
Sachin Tendukar - 309 matches, 300 innings
Ricky Ponting - 323 matches, 314 innings
Kumar Sangakkara - 359 matches, 336 innings
Sanath Jayasuriya - 390 matches, 379 innings
If Kohli goes on to score a hundred, the 32-year-old would equal Sachin’s record of most hundreds by an Indian (9) against Australia.