New Delhi:
Virat Kohli has shown time and time again that he is one of the greatest batsman in ODIs thanks to the sheer amount of numbers and big scores that he has amassed in his 11-year playing career. His run-scoring capacity has prompted many analysts to state that he could become the leading run-getter in ODIs, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar's mark of 18426 runs. The Indian skipper has always achieved some special milestones against Australia and in the second ODI at Nagpur, he secured yet another feather in his cap. Kohli nudged a back of a length delivery from Nathan Coulter-Nile to deep backward square leg and notched up his 50th half-century in ODIs to revive India after a poor start.
Prior to the Nagpur ODI, Kohli was facing a situation called 'nervous 40s'. In four out of five ODIs against Australia and New Zealand, Kohli was out in the 40s, managing scores of 46,45,43 and 44 in the previous ODI in Hyderabad. However, in this match at Nagpur, Kohli displayed his brilliance as he revived India following Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan's cheap dismissals.
Kohli started off with a bang by hammering Coulter-Nile for two boundaries in the fourth over. After a great start, Kohli rotated the strike and continued to maintain a good rate of scoring. Despite losing wickets at regular intervals, Kohli found the boundary by steering a flatter delivery to the third man fence. The Indian skipper was given good company by Vijay Shankar and he grew in confidence, hammering Adam Zampa, the bowler who has dismissed him four times for two boundaries, one to deep square leg and another to deep extra cover.
In the process, Kohli registered his 89th fifty-plus score in ODIs, in addition to 39 centuries. Sachin Tendulkar has the most with 145 scores of fifty-plus and it includes a world record 49 centuries and a massive 96 ODI fifties. Kohli became the 24th batsmen to hit 50+ fifties in ODIs.
The Indian skipper will be aiming to build upon his score and register his 40th century as Kohl aims to shatter records in the coming games. India are currently leading the five-match ODI series 1-0 after victory in Hyderabad.
