Back in mid-2008, a spunky, young Indian batsman made his ODI debut for India. The 19-year-old Delhi boy had been drafted into the national side after his impressive exploits in domestic cricket and leading the U-19 Indian team to a World Cup earlier that year. As is the case with every young cricketer, there was quite some excitement surrounding this young batsman.
Unfortunately, he could only muster 159 runs from 5 matches that year and was left out of the side. He looked shaky against the short ball and was unable to swiftly move along the strike, as was evident from his strike-rate of 66.52. Things did not look promising for his future and it seemed like he would soon be forgotten.
Since then, Virat Kohli turned things around, and how!
If there is one batsman today who can be called a living great, it simply has to be Virat Kohli. By the sheer weight of his awe-inspiring numbers and the impact he has had in winning games for India, almost single-handedly, Kohli has become today what Sachin Tendulkar was in his prime.
In ODIs, especially, Kohli has attained greatness and the way he is churning out centuries, he is likely to near or overhaul Sachin’s 49 ODI centuries by the end of his career.
More than the centuries, however, it is the way Kohli has been accumulating his runs that has been exemplary. Over the course of the last five years, Kohli has played many an incredible match-winning knock and several of those have come under extreme pressure situations.
Perhaps the first glimpse of that was the absolutely sublime unbeaten 86-ball 133 against Sri Lanka at Hobart in 2012 in the CB Tri-series when India needed to achieve the target of 321 inside 40 overs to stay alive in the tournament.
Then came that magnificent match-winning 183 against Pakistan in the 2012 Asia Cup while chasing a target of 330.
Probably one of his most stunning ODI knocks was against Australia at Jaipur in 2013. With India chasing an improbable target of 360, Kohli struck a glorious, unbeaten 100 off 52 balls – the fastest hundred by an Indian in ODIs – to take India home.
Last year’s unbeaten 154 against New Zealand at Mohali while chasing 285 was another Kohli stunner in a tense chase.
Thus, in his ODI career so far, there have been countless performances like these and many more are certain to follow given the rate at which he is progressing. Kohli has worked unbelievably hard on his fitness and set an example for other modern-day cricketers to follow. While he is leading the side today across all formats, he continues to be the vital cog in India’s batting order in the shorter formats.
Sachin and Kohli – analyzing the two batting legends at 200 ODIs
Virat Kohli played his 200th ODI against New Zealand, and he celebrated that milestone by carving out another splendid hundred. These past few years, there have been umpteen occasions, when comparisons have been drawn between Kohli and Sachin and how similar their career numbers are. While the two batting greats played in different eras, the kind of impact they have had for the team and on world cricket really is similar. Hence, a little comparison between Kohli and Sachin every now and then is inevitable.
Now that Kohli has played his landmark 200th ODI, it will be interesting to note where Sachin stood at precisely that point. So here are a few significant features of both Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli’s careers after the two batting legends had featured in exactly 200 ODIs.
Career summary:
After 200 ODIs, Sachin had scored 7,305 runs in 193 innings at an average of 41.74 with 18 hundreds and 43 fifties. His highest score was the sensational 143 against Australia at Sharjah in 2008.
Sachin had faced 8,532 balls and scored at a strike-rate of 85.61. He had eight ducks to his name and had struck 726 fours along with 86 sixes.
Kohli, meanwhile, has played 200 ODIs thus far and has scored 8,888 runs in 192 innings at an average of 55.55 with 31 hundreds and 45 fifties. His best score is the 183 against Pakistan in Dhaka during the 2012 Asia Cup.
Kohli has faced 9,709 balls and has a strike-rate of 91.54. He has 12 ducks and has struck 827 fours along with 96 sixes.
200th ODI match:
Sachin Tendulkar played his 200th ODI against Zimbabwe on the 30th of September, 1998 at Harare. It was the 3rd and final ODI of the series between India and Zimbabwe.
While chasing a target of 259, Sachin scored just 2 runs off 6 balls and fell to Heath Streak. India lost the match by 37 runs.
Virat Kohli played his 200th ODI against New Zealand on the 22nd of October, 2017 at Mumbai. It was the first ODI of a three-match series between India and New Zealand.
With India batting first, Kohli scored a fluent 121 off 125 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes and was dismissed by Tim Southee. New Zealand won the match by 6 wickets.
Performance in World Cups:
Sachin has a far more impressive record than Virat when it comes to performance in World Cups after he had played 200 ODIs.
During that period, Sachin had featured in 15 World Cup games for India and had scored 806 runs at an average of 67.16 and a strike-rate of 85.47 with 2 centuries and 6 fifties. His best innings was the brilliant 137 against Sri Lanka at Delhi in the 1996 World Cup.
Kohli, meanwhile, has played 17 World Cup matches for India and has scored 587 runs at an average of 41.92 and a strike-rate of 81.86 with 2 hundreds and 1 fifty. His best score is the 107 he scored against Pakistan at Adelaide in the 2015 World Cup.
Sachin was incredible in the 1996 World Cup and almost single-handedly led India to the semifinal. Virat is yet to fire consistently in World Cups. He is likely to lead India in the 2019 World Cup in England, and must look to improve on his numbers then.
Performance in victories:
Both Sachin and Kohli have been exceptional match-winners for India. After 200 ODIs, both had some extraordinary numbers in victories for the country.
Sachin had featured in 93 matches that India had won and he had scored 4,341 runs in them at an average of 57.88 and a strike-rate of 89.13 with 14 hundreds and 25 fifties. His best score was the 134 against Australia at Sharjah in 2008.
Kohli has already been a part of 119 ODIs that India has won and he has scored 6,380 runs in them at an average of 74.18 and a strike-rate of 95.43 with 26 hundreds and 27 fifties. His best score in victories has been the incredible 183 against Pakistan at Dhaka in the Asia Cup 2012.
While Kohli’s numbers are certainly better here, Sachin’s are quite terrific as well.
Performance in finals of tournaments:
Sachin’s performance in tournament finals was exceptional. In 21 tournament finals, Sachin scored 1,053 runs at an average of 55.42 and a strike-rate of 91.88 with 3 hundreds and 7 half-centuries. His best performance in a final was his 134 against Australia in the Coca-Cola Cup final at Sharjah in 2008.
Virat, meanwhile, has an ordinary record in tournament finals till now. In 8 tournament final games, Kohli has just scored 154 runs at an average of 22 and a strike-rate of 77.77. To date, he has not crossed the 50-run mark in a tournament final and his best score remains the 43 he scored against England at Birmingham in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2013.
This is one aspect that Kohli needs to improve on as he steps into a new phase of his ODI career.
Performance while batting second:
Another feature to judge the greatness of a batsman is to note their performance while chasing, as that is when the pressure is the most. Both Kohli and Sachin have done tremendously well here.
After 200 ODIs, Sachin had played 98 innings while batting second and had scored 3,943 runs in them at an average of 46.38 and a strike-rate of 91.44 with 10 hundreds and 23 fifties. His average while batting first (37.35) was considerably lower than his second innings average.
While Sachin was superb in the second innings of ODIs, Kohli has been simply phenomenal in this regard. In 103 innings while batting second, Kohli has gathered 5,456 runs at an average of 65.73 and a strike-rate of 93.37 with 19 hundreds and 27 fifties. His best has been the 183 against Pakistan at Dhaka in the Asia Cup 2012.
One must credit Virat here for his mind-boggling numbers while batting second, which is never easy. Sachin was very good in that aspect, but Virat has been extraordinary.
In conclusion:
Most of the numbers stated above are simply remarkable. They show us how both Kohli and Sachin had such a tremendous impact on their teams after just 200 ODIs. Comparing who is better among the two is futile. Rather, one must appreciate the similarity of their numbers and of their greatness in the format.
Kohli the ODI champion:
There was a time in Indian cricket, just after Sachin Tendulkar had retired, that fans were concerned about who would lead the Indian batting unit. Now, one can safely say that Virat Kohli has taken that role and is shining brighter than ever as he reached the milestone of completing 200 ODIs.
As has been mentioned before, Kohli is a modern-day ODI great. He already has 31 hundreds at the age of 28 and one wonders where he will end by the time he is done. For now, one must applaud this ODI champion for the remarkable feats he has accomplished in such little time and hope that he continues to enthrall and inspire countless cricket fans for years to come.
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