India’s star batsman Virat Kohli on Sunday added another milestone to his illustrious career, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s record of becoming the fastest to 28,000 runs in international cricket in the opening match of the ODI series against New Zealand.
Kohli achieved this feat in just 624 innings, beating Tendulkar’s 644 innings and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara’s 666 innings.
In the process, he surpassed Sangakkara’s tally of 28,016 runs and now trails only Tendulkar’s international runs total of 34,357 runs.
Coming into the match, Kohli needed 25 runs to reach the milestone. He brought it up in style with a boundary in the 12th over and then went past Sangakkara’s score off Michael Bracewell in the last ball of the 18th over.
Fastest to 28,000 international runs:
- Virat Kohli – 624 innings
- Sachin Tendulkar – 644 innings
- Kumar Sangakkara – 666 innings
Batting first, New Zealand posted 300-8 in 50 overs, Darryl Mitchell top-scoring with 84 runs.
India’s reply started smoothly, with Rohit Sharma and the returning Shubman Gill in a 39-run opening partnership.
After Rohit fell for 26, Kohli anchored the innings and forged a 118-run partnership with Gill.
Gill scored 56 off 71 balls while Kohli dominated till the first ball of the 39th over when he was caught for 93 off 91 balls with 8 fours and a six.
With KL Rahul unbeaten on 29 in the end, India cruised to a thrilling four-wicket win against the Black Caps in the last over.