VIRAT KOHLI on Sunday became the second-highest run-scorer in international cricket across formats during his 93 in the first ODI against New Zealand.
Kohli moved past Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, who had 28,016 runs, to go second on the all-time list, behind Sachin Tendulkar with 34,357 runs.
The top-order batter now has 28,068 runs across Test, ODI and T20 cricket since making his India debut in an ODI in Sri Lanka in 2008.
“If I look back at my whole journey then it is nothing short of a dream come true for me,” Kohli said after being named man of the match in Vadodara.
“I have always known my abilities, but I also knew I had to work extremely hard to get where I am today. God has blessed me with far more than I could ever ask for, I look back at my journey with a lot of grace and gratitude, and I feel really proud of it.”
Kohli’s 91-ball innings helped India chase down a target of 301, winning by four wickets with six balls remaining to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
The batter missed out on his 54th ODI hundred, but registered his fifth score of 60 or more in his last five ODI innings, including two hundreds.
“If I am being brutally honest, the way I'm playing right now, I'm not thinking about milestones at all,” the former captain said.
“If we were batting first, I probably would've gone harder. But in a chase, with a total on the board, I had to play the situation. I felt like hitting more boundaries, but experience kicks in. The only thing on my mind was getting the team into a position where we could win comfortably.”
Kohli, who is known as King Kohli, now plays only the ODI format after he and Rohit Sharma retired from T20 and Test cricket.
The future of the two players has been debated, with both likely targeting the ODI World Cup in 2027.
