Virat Kohli 67 Runs Away From Surpassing Sri Lanka Great In This Elite ODI List

All eyes will be on Virat Kohli as India get ready to take on Sri Lanka in the second ODI at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday. Kohli, who survived two dropped catches on 52 and 81, hammered 113 off 87 balls to drive India to 373-7 after they were invited to bat first. It was Kohli's 45th century in ODI cricket, and is now only four such knocks away from equalling Sachin Tendulkar's record of 49 tons in the format. Ahead of the second ODI, Kohli eyes yet another huge milestone. He is now only 67 runs away from surpassing former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene as the fifth all-time leading run-scorer in ODIs.

So far, Kohli has scored 12,584 runs in 257 ODI innings, while Jayawardene ended his career with 12,650 in 433 innings.

Also, if Kohli ends up scoring another century on Thursday, he will surpass Tendulkar (20) in the list for scoring most ODI centuries for India on home soil.

Kohli has now hit two successive ODI hundreds since coming out of an extended lean patch last year when he spoke about his mental struggles during the phase.

"The one thing I learnt was desperation doesn't get you anywhere," Kohli said on lessons learnt during his slump in form.

"You go out there and play without any fear. You go out there playing for the right reasons and almost play every game like it's your last and just be happy about it.

He added: "I can't hold on to things, the game is going to move on. I am not going to play forever. I am in a happy space and enjoying my game."

(With AFP Inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Sri Lanka Cricket Team Virat Kohli Mahela Jayawardene India vs Sri Lanka 2023 Cricket