Babar Azam and the Pakistan cricket team became the butt of jokes after India batting maestro Virat Kohli created a world record against Australia in Delhi during the weekend.
On Sunday, the talismanic batter went on to script history, becoming the fastest to 25,000 runs in international cricket, shattering the previous record held by the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.
King Kohli, Run Machine, Chase Master – Virat Kohli has earned all these epithets for his imperious batting performances over the years. While he hasn't been at his best in Test cricket for some time, the former India captain played a crucial part in India's victory against Australia in the second Test in the national capital.
While he made a composed 44 in the first essay before being given out controversially, Virat Kohli looked good in the second innings as well as he joined Cheteshwar Pujara in the middle at a vital time for the hosts.
After India lost the wicket of captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Cheteshwar Pujara needed to stitch a partnership to take them closer to their target of 115.
Virat Kohli did help India in this regard as he and Cheteshwar Pujara were engaged in a stand of 30 before the former lost his wicket to Australian off-spinner Todd Murphy. Though Virat Kohli only made 20 runs off 31 balls, it was a crucial knock in the context of the match.
On a deteriorating Day 3 pitch at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Virat Kohli's short knock was worth gold because as long as he was there at the crease, he looked assured and batted with a lot of comfort and composure.
In the process, Virat Kohli became the second Indian cricketer after Sachin Tendulkar to complete 25,000 runs on the international stage. However, Virat Kohli required lesser knocks when compared to Sachin Tendulkar to get to the landmark.
During his illustrious career from 1989 to 2013, Sachin Tendulkar accomplished the milestone of 25,000 runs in 577 knocks. On the contrary, Virat Kohli achieved the feat in 549 innings.
Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar are followed by ex-Australia captain Ricky Ponting and former South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis, in the list. While Ricky Ponting unlocked 25 thousand runs in 588 knocks, Jacques Kallis completed the milestone in 594 essays.
Occupying the fifth and sixth spots in the elite group are Sri Lankan legends Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, who took 608 and 701 knocks, respectively, to make 25k runs.
With Virat Kohli shattering Sachin Tendulkar's record, his vast legion of fans mocked Babar Azam and the Pakistan cricket team on social media.
Some Virat Kohli admirers highlighted that Virat Kohli has more than 25k runs in international cricket while the entire Pakistan cricket team could only make 24 thousand runs.
Moreover, a few pointed out that Babar Azam was yet to make half the runs Virat Kohli has scored across formats, and a few claimed that the Pakistan captain struggles against top teams and only amasses runs against minnows.
Dabar fan clubs crying in the corner coz they know itne to is janam mein bhi nhi banapayega vo 🤣
— Preety 🇮🇳 (@Preety44455) February 19, 2023
Dream for zimbabar 😂😂😂😂
— 💉 (@dtsaae) February 19, 2023
I bet Babar will not get this milestone in his entire career. And i don't think any Pakistani batsman will reach this milestone.
— LAXMAN SINGH (@Laxmansingh13B) February 19, 2023
Virat kohli-Goat(Greatest of all time)
Babar azam-Goat(meeeeeehhmeeeeeehh)— Niraj (@NirajKu98867279) February 19, 2023
Congratulations abbu… 🎉 pic.twitter.com/Dw72Q9e6Tc
— S H Y K A Y O™ ✨ (@ShyClingyStars) February 19, 2023
Zimazam will have to play 3 series against Zimbabwe every year to reach here in 15 years.
🤣🤣
— Tallboy86 (@Raghav_rote) February 19, 2023
Speaking about Virat Kohli's overall Test record, the Delhi-born cricketer has mustered 8,195 runs at an average of 48.49 in 106 matches for India. He has made 27 centuries and 28 fifties in whites.
However, his dismal numbers in red-ball cricket have worried fans and former cricketers. Since 2020, Virat Kohli has scored 993 runs in 39 innings in Tests at a mediocre average of 26.13, including six half-centuries. Notably, his last hundred in the five-day version of the sport came in November 2019 against Bangladesh in Kolkata.
On the other hand, Virat Kohli has succeeded in changing his fortunes in white-ball cricket, in T20Is and ODIs in the last six months. He ended last year’s T20 World Cup in Australia as the tournament’s leading run-scorer and recently added three ODI centuries to his kitty.
In January, Virat Kohli broke a slew of world records during his masterful unbeaten 166-run-knock off 110 deliveries against Sri Lanka.
Virat Kohli now has 20 Player of the Series awards to his name in international cricket, the same as Sachin Tendulkar. If we bifurcate their numbers further, Virat Kohli has claimed 3 Man of the Series trophies in Tests, 10 in ODIs, and 7 in T20Is.
With his 166 not out against the islanders, Virat Kohli now has the most unbeaten 150+ scores (5) in the history of ODIs.
The ton was his 21st at home in the second-longest format of the sport, taking him clear of Sachin Tendulkar’s previous tally of 20.
During his sensational innings, Virat Kohli also overtook Sri Lanka legend Mahela Jayawardene to occupy the fifth spot among the highest run-getters in ODIs.
Moreover, Virat Kohli is the quickest to amass 46 centuries in ODI cricket – a milestone he achieved in just 259 innings. On the other hand, the previous record holder Sachin Tendulkar needed 431 innings to get there.
This was his 10th century against Sri Lanka, making him the first man to score that many tons against a single team in ODIs. Previously, Virat Kohli had made nine centuries each against Sri Lanka and West Indies, while Sachin Tendulkar had scored the same number of tons against Australia.
Meanwhile, his first-innings dismissal against Australia in Delhi divided opinion, with cricket pundits sharing different views on the subject.
If Sunil Gavaskar and Gautam Gambhir said that Virat Kohli was out, and Wasim Jaffer, Aakash Chopra, and Harbhajan Singh declared that he was not out.
“I thought it was out because if the ball had not hit the bat, because he had been hit on the inside part of the front leg…The ball even if it had turned marginally towards the off-stump, it would have hit the leg-stump. If it would have hit him on the outside part of the left leg, then it would have probably missed the leg-stump. The only question at that particular point of time was where was the impact, whether the ball hit the bat first. Because the bat and pad were so close to each other. It was umpire's call which in my view what the decision was,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
“If we talk about his dismissal today, I feel it was not out. It is because if you look at it by the rules, if the ball hits the bat and pad together, then it is not out. The decision should go in favour of the batter. But that didn't happen. Despite having all this technology, such a mistake is beyond me. I understand if you don't have the technology, or you had an error. Mistakes happen and an on-field umpire can make the wrong call. But if you're seeing it on the TV, and the third umpire is giving it out, then that for me is surprising. For me and according to the rule book, Virat Kohli was absolutely not out. And he was playing very well. If he had continued playing, we could have certainly got the lead over Australia. Not sure how big the lead would have been but the way he was batting, he was set and getting him out was going to be a bit difficult. And I feel India would have atleast made 300,” Harbhajan Singh said on his YouTube channel.
“Virat Kohli was unfortunate to get dismissed. From the replays, it looked like the ball had hit the bat and pad at the same time. According to the law, in such a situation, the benefit of the doubt goes to the batter. But the third umpire felt that he did not have conclusive evidence to overturn the decision. I feel the replays shouldn't be shown on the big screen because then the umpire becomes a villain for 35,000 people on the ground,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
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