Most runs, most fifties: Virat Kohli is having the World Cup of India’s dreams
Virat Kohli has shattered one record after the other in a glorious 2023 World Cup campaign that all hoped for, but not many expected.
When Virat Kohli went through his extended run of poor form in international cricket, obituaries were written about his game. From 70 international centuries in 11 years to none in nearly three, not many expected a comeback. Even those who did would not have expected one like this.
After a stellar campaign in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia where he finished as the highest run-scorer, Kohli has repeated that feat in the ongoing 2023 World Cup and how.
From nine league games, Kohli aggregated 594 runs at an average of 99. That is an absurd average to have, despite the three not outs. And yet, it has only improved to 101.57 after the semi-final against New Zealand, where he created a world record that will perhaps never be broken.
Coming in to bat after another blazing start by Rohit Sharma, Kohli anchored the innings to perfection, rotating strike and getting the odd boundary as Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer took the initiative to take the attack to New Zealand.
Despite battling cramps in the nineties, Kohli managed to pull through and becoming the first batter in the ODI history to make 50 hundreds. As fate would have it, he achieved the feat at the home ground of Sachin Tendulkar, the legend whose record he broke, also breaking his World Cup semi-finals curse in the process (his highest score from three previous World Cup semi-finals was nine).
The first time I met you in the Indian dressing room, you were pranked by other teammates into touching my feet. I couldn’t stop laughing that day. But soon, you touched my heart with your passion and skill. I am so happy that that young boy has grown into a ‘Virat’ player.
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) November 15, 2023
Kohli had entered the World Cup with 47 ODI centuries to his name. Across 26 previous World Cup games across 2011, 2015, and 2019, he had crossed three figures only twice. Another one through the course of this one would have been nice. Two more would have been nicer. As it turns out, he’s scored three and potentially has one more game to go.
Kohli’s unmatched levels of consistency were the hallmark of his career, particularly in ODIs. With eight fifty-plus scores from ten games in a single edition of the World Cup, however, he has challenged his own standards.
This is the first time a batter has achieved this in a single edition of the tournament, with the previous best being seven fifty-plus scores by Sachin Tendulkar and Shakib Al Hasan in the 2003 and the 2019 World Cups respectively.
Kohli’s aggregate in the 2023 World Cup after his epic at the Wankhede stands at 711, making it the first time a batter has crossed 700 runs in a single edition of the World Cup, surpassing Tendulkar’s tally of 673 runs in the 2003 World Cup.
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