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Virat Kohli Most runs by Indian batsmen in England: Whenever an Indian batsman takes to the beautiful and challenging pitches of England, the history books start opening automatically. The second match of the three-match ODI series being played between India and England is to be played on Thursday, July 16 at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. This is not just a cricket match, but a golden platform for one of the greatest batsmen of the modern era, Virat Kohli, to inscribe his name in golden letters in the pages of history. After the victory in the first match, while Team India will aim to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, every cricket lover is waiting for a big innings from the bat of King Kohli.
When the teams of India and England face each other at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, the excitement of the series will be at its peak. In the first ODI match played at Edgbaston, Birmingham, the Indian team performed brilliantly and defeated the host team and took a 1-0 lead in the series. Now the Indian team’s eyes are set on winning the second match and winning the series. But to achieve this big goal, it is very important for Virat Kohli, who is called the backbone of Indian batting, to return to form. Forgetting the failure of the last match, Kohli will be desperate to play a big and match-winning innings in this match.
When the Indian team came out to chase the target of 259 runs in the first match of the series played at Edgbaston, everyone expected that Virat Kohli, who came to bat at number 3, would finish the match in his old style. But amidst the uncertainties of cricket, Kohli returned to the pavilion after scoring only 5 runs. This cheap wicket certainly disappointed their fans a bit, but the Cardiff ground has brought them an opportunity to convert this disappointment into a big celebration. The mark of a great player is that he learns from bad times and comes back with double the strength, and Kohli will step onto the field with the intention of doing just that.
The Cardiff ground can prove to be a huge personal milestone for Virat Kohli. Kohli will have a chance to break a big record of former Indian captain and veteran batsman Rahul Dravid in this match. During his career, Rahul Dravid played a total of 46 international matches including all three formats on England soil, in which in 56 innings he scored 2645 runs at an excellent average of 55.10, which included 8 centuries and 15 half-centuries. Currently, Virat Kohli has scored 2642 runs in 74 innings of 58 matches in England. This means that Kohli needs only 4 runs to overtake Rahul Dravid and become the highest run-scoring Indian batsman in England.
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When we talk about the all-time performance of Indian batsmen in England, many great names come to the fore. In this list, Rahul Dravid is at the top with 2645 runs, while Virat Kohli is following him at second place with 2642 runs. At third place is the great Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 2626 runs in 43 matches in England at an average of 49.54. Current captain Rohit Sharma is also firmly at the fourth position with 2298 runs in 47 matches. After this comes Sourav Ganguly (1949 runs), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (1869 runs), Ravindra Jadeja (1644 runs), KL Rahul (1643 runs), Sunil Gavaskar (1583 runs) and Shikhar Dhawan (1478 runs). Kohli reaching the top of this great list after scoring only 4 runs will further elevate his stature.
Virat Kohli’s record in England in all three formats has been very excellent and balanced. He has adapted himself well to the fast and swinging conditions of England. Talking about Test cricket, he has scored 1096 runs in 33 innings of 17 Test matches played in England at an average of 33.21, in which 149 runs has been his best score. His bat has spoken strongly in ODI cricket, where in 34 innings of 34 matches, he has added 1354 runs at an excellent average of 50.14 and strike rate of 91.17. Talking about T20 International matches, he has scored 192 runs in 7 matches at an average of 32 and strike rate of 133.33. Including these three formats, Kohli’s total run score is 2682 runs or purely 2642 runs as compared to Dravid’s record, in which he has scored 3 centuries and 18 half-centuries.
Virat Kohli not only has Dravid’s record in front of him, but he is also very close to becoming India’s most successful ODI batsman in England. Currently this record is in the name of Indian captain Rohit Sharma. Rohit has scored 1439 runs in 28 ODI matches played in England at an incredible average of 62.56 and strike rate of 90.27, which includes 7 centuries and 7 half-centuries. Whereas Kohli has 1354 runs in his name in 34 ODI matches in England. If Virat Kohli is successful in scoring an inning of 86 runs in the Cardiff ODI, he will surpass Rohit Sharma and become the batsman who has scored the most ODI runs for India on English soil.
Indian batsmen have always dominated the ODI matches played in England. After Rohit Sharma (1439 runs) and Virat Kohli (1354 runs), the name of Rahul Dravid comes third in this list, who scored 1238 runs in 32 matches. After him is ‘Gabbar’ i.e. Shikhar Dhawan, who scored 1142 runs in only 22 matches at an excellent average of 60.10. God of cricket Sachin Tendulkar is at fifth position with 1051 runs in 26 matches and former captain Sourav Ganguly is at sixth position with 1034 runs in 27 matches. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is also included in this list after scoring 938 runs in 38 matches. Kohli is standing at the threshold of being at the forefront of this elite group.
The greatness of Virat Kohli can be gauged from the fact that he has been scoring runs not only on home pitches but also at the home and neutral venues of the opposing teams. In his 15-year long ODI career, Kohli has played a total of 182 matches outside India (on foreign soil and neutral venues). In these matches, he has scored a total of 7935 runs at an unmatched average of 55.48 and strike rate of 90.72, in which 27 centuries and 41 half-centuries have been recorded. If Kohli scores 65 runs in Cardiff, he will complete his 8,000 ODI runs on foreign pitches. For India, till now only Sachin Tendulkar (11450 runs) and Sourav Ganguly (8253 runs) have been able to cross this magical figure.
As soon as Kohli completes his 8000 ODI runs on foreign soil, he will join the club of select batsmen in the world who have established their dominance away from home. So far in world cricket, only 7 batsmen have scored more than 8000 runs in foreign and neutral ODI matches. Sachin Tendulkar is at the top in this list with 11450 runs. After him come the names of Sanath Jayasuriya (9550 runs), Kumar Sangakkara (9510 runs), Inzamam-ul-Haq (9065 runs), Mahela Jayawardene (8604 runs), Ricky Ponting (8298 runs) and Sourav Ganguly (8253 runs). Kohli is eighth in this elite list with 7935 runs and after scoring just 65 runs, he will become the eighth member of this elite club.
There is another very special record which is purely related to the runs scored on the home grounds of the opposing team (except neutral grounds). Sri Lanka’s great wicketkeeper batsman Kumar Sangakkara is at the top in this list, who during his career had scored 5518 runs by playing 149 ODI matches at the home of the opposing teams. At the same time, Virat Kohli has scored 5473 runs at an average of 53.65 in the 125 ODI matches played so far at the home of the opposing teams, which includes 21 centuries. Kohli needs only 46 runs to break this all-time world record of Sangakkara. If he does this, he will become the only batsman in the world who has scored the most ODI runs at the home of the opposing team.
