Virat Kohli: Chasemaster not mindful of records, but they still keep coming

Scores of 74 not out, 135, 102, 65 not out, 131, 77 and 93 tell their own story — if this run of seven innings recalls Virat Kohli’s vintage 2014–19 form, it’s no exaggeration.

 The swagger is back as the master batter hardly put a foot wrong again against a new-look New Zealand attack, albeit on a Vadodara wicket where chasing got a bit easier, to underline his stature as the greatest chasemaster in this format again. There could be the odd naysayers like Sanjay Manjrekar, in whose opinion batting in top three in the ODI format is a relatively easier task, but one could only marvel at the touch Kohli had been in since that third match in Sydney in Sydney.

He may have missed a personal landmark of 54^th ODI ton on Sunday, but then, it would be a statistical footnote for someone who has had a century in every 5.60 innings – the best compared to other batting legends who got it every eight of 10 knocks. It’s a fact that Kohli was not the same batter in red ball cricket for the last five-six years, but both him and Rohit Sharma had dared to test themselves in only one format and under circumstances which were not conducive to begin with. The rust may have initially showed as they took their bow in international cricket after a gap of five months Down Under, but there had been no looking back since then.

 A closer look at the above sequence of Kohli reflects that two of them (131,77) have actually come in Vijay Hazare Trophy – thanks to a mandate from Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar that neither of the Big Two would be exempt from gametime in the premier domestic ODI event. This actually turned Vijay Hazare into quite a marquee event where both showed the hunger for bigger scores rather than just cameos and on Sunday evening, Virat seemed to continue from where he had left off.

 The statisticians were again sent scurrying as he climbed to the second spot among all-time high list of international rungetters across all formats as he became the fastest to cross the 28,000-run barrier from  624 innings. He surpassed Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara, who took 664 innings for his aggregate of 28,016.  The only person ahead of him is now Kohli’s childhood idol Sachin Tendulkar, who stands head and shoulders above at 34,357 runs – though he took more innings that Kohli to reach the 28,000-mark (644 innings).

Kohli, of course, admitted during the post-match chat with Harsha Bhogle that he had stopped bothering about records anymore. He touched another one, the maximum number of Player of the Match in ODIs – 45 with another Lankan legend Sanath Jayasuriya. ‘’I am not aware of it,’’ he said and promised in zest to send the trophy to his mother, who has all of them lined up at their Gurgaon residence.

 A sequence like this is too good to continue, it could well snap at the next game in Rajkot in three days’ time. What, of course, is more important is that the focused look is back and he is looking every inch the teamman during each of these matches. No doubt, it’s the champion’s ego which is driving a performer like Kohli as well as Rohit Sharma.

 The 2027 ICC World Cup is still many months away and it’s anybody’s guess as to whether they will eventually make the cut. As for now, Kohli is certainly batting as best as he ever did – and that’s what matters!   

Most runs in international cricket

1. Sachin Tendulkar (IND): 34,357 runs (28,000 runs in 644 innings)

2. Virat Kohli (IND): 28,068 (28,000 in 624 innings)

3. Kumar Sangakkara (SL): 28,016 runs (28,000 in 666 innings)

4. Ricky Ponting (AUS): 27,483 runs

5. Mahela Jayawardene (SL): 25,957 runs

6. Jacques Kallis (SA): 25,534 runs