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Virat Kohli On Course To Achieve Staggering Record Against Bangladesh

image-lnwuwn1nKohli has already two fifties in this World Cup (x.com)

Virat Kohli stands on the verge of a special record heading into the ICC World Cup 2023 league-stage clash with Bangladesh in Pune on Thursday (October 19). The modern-day legend is only 77 runs shy of becoming the fastest to reach 26,000 international runs in the history of cricket. 

The in-form stalwart is one substantial knock away from going past legendary Sachin Tendulkar, Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara and Aussie great Ricky Ponting. Only Tendulkar, Sangakkara and Ponting are part of the coveted list of batters to have broken past the 26,000 barrier with bat in hand. But Kohli can become the quickest to reach the great milestone. 

The former India skipper is fifth in the overall list of men with most runs in international cricket with a whopping tally of 25,923. While Tendulkar holds the numero uno spot with 34,325 runs and is unlikely to be surpassed anytime soon, Sangakkara (28,016), Ponting (27,483) and Mahela Jayawardene (25,957) are also ahead of Kohli in the runs-chart. 


Kohli to become fastest to 26,000 international runs 

However, Kohli is bound to go one-up on all the big names in terms of innings taken to reach the 26,000-run mark. Even if he scores a duck against Bangladesh, the legend will still have the next 33 innings to record the remaining 77 runs and achieve the prestigious record. 

The 34-year-old currently has 25,923 runs across formats from 566 innings played in 510 matches, including 187 innings in Tests, 272 outings in One-Day Internationals and 107 knocks in T20Is for India. No active player has more runs than India's marquee No.3 batter at the international stage. 

Kohli, who has been in spectacular form since the recent Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and produced two brilliant half-centuries in India's first three matches of the ongoing World Cup, must be eyeing a century on a placid track in Pune versus the Bangla Tigers. 

A hundred in the coming game will take his tally of ODI centuries to 48, only two away from maestro Tendulkar's record of 49 hundreds in 50-overs cricket. Notably, Kohli has 47 tons in his 282 One-Day matches for India and boasts of a remarkable 13,239 runs under his kitty.