Virat Kohli breaks Sachin Tendulkar’s twin records with marauding 85 vs Australia in India’s ODI World Cup opener
The year was 1983 and India had its back against the wall when legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev played one of the most iconic knocks in World Cup history to rescue the Men In Blue against giant-killers Zimbabwe.
Openers Sunil Gavaskar and Kris Srikkanth perished for ducks as India were five down at a score of 17 in the 1983 World Cup. Forty years later, Virat Kohli-starrer Team India suffered a rare batting collapse and openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan achieved the unwanted feat of Gavaskar and Srikkanth by not opening their respective accounts against Australia.
With India staring at an embarrassing collapse just like the 1983 edition of the World Cup, the duo of Kohli and Rahul resurrected the Indian innings in front of a jam-packed Chepauk. Rahul and Kohli missed out on centuries but the premier batters completed the demolition job with their impressive knocks. While Rahul scored an unbeaten 97, Kohli scored 85 off 116 balls to reach new heights in his iconic career. From surpassing Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar to eclipsing Anil Kumble, the 34-year-old had a record-fest outing for the Men In Blue at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Kohli plucked his 15th catch of the World Cup to beat Kumble’s record. The run machine holds the record for most catches by an Indian in the history of the ODI World Cup. Batter Kohli then witnessed India crumble in its run-chase as Rohit and Co. were reduced to 2-3 in 1.6 overs. With India facing an uphill task, Kohli lived up to his ‘chasemaster’ tag by playing a match-altering knock against the five-time world champions.
Kohli registers his highest score in successful run chase at World Cup
Kohli was dropped for 12 by Mitchell Marsh, who became the first Aussie opener to get dismissed for a duck against India in a One Day International (ODI) World Cup game. Punishing the Aussies for their costly mistake, Kohli played a majestic knock to rescue India from a precarious situation. The former India skipper laced his brilliant knock with 6 fours. This was Kohli’s first 50-plus score in a successful run chase at the World Cup.
Tendulkar’s twin records shattered by Kohli
Smashing a world record in the 2023 edition of the World Cup, Kohli now has more runs in successful chases than any other batter in the history of ODI cricket. The veteran batter has eclipsed batting icon Tendulkar to become the proud owner of the world record. When it comes to successful chases, Kohli has amassed 5,517 runs in 92 innings while Tendulkar accumulated 5,490 in 124.
Kohli also managed to overtake Tendulkar by shattering the latter’s record for most runs by an Indian in white-ball ICC tournaments. Master Blaster Tendulkar smashed 2,719 runs in 61 games while Kohli crossed the 2780-run mark in the recently concluded encounter. The quickest batter to 13,000 ODI runs, Kohli is only two centuries away from equalling Tendulkar’s record tally of ODI hundreds.