Entering the match, Virat Kohli needed 59 runs to leapfrog Sachin Tendulkar for the record.
Virat Kohli has achieved yet another ODI record. The India stalwart became the fastest player ever, and second player overall, to score 15,000 runs in ODI cricket, as he slammed a half-century against West Indies in the first ODI in Thiruvananthapuram. Entering the match, Kohli needed 59 runs to leapfrog Sachin Tendulkar for the record, who is the only other player to score 15,000 ODI runs. While Tendulkar took 377 innings to get to the feat, Kohli has done it in just 303 innings.
Maestro Kohli and skipper Shubman Gill displayed their mastery in 50-over format with virtuoso hundreds as India subdued the West Indies by eight wickets in the first ODI in Thiruvananthapuram.
India now lead the three-match series 1-0, after Kohli (139 not out, 10×4, 9×6) and Gill (110, 107b) milked 150 runs for the second wicket to help the hosts scale down 296 in 41.4 overs, ending up at 300 for two.
West Indies too had a centurion in their ranks in Justin Greaves, but his maiden effort – 101 – is now destined to remain as an afterthought as it was already overshadowed by Kuldeep Yadav’s excellent four-wicket burst.
But even Greaves will not complain about that after remaining a reverent student during India’s innings, watching a GOAT and another batter looking to attain that status working in tandem.
Here’s a quick look at the stats: Gill crunched his 10th ODI hundred and Kohli steamrolled Windies for his 55th ton, and 86th in international cricket.
Additionally, Kohli also became the second batter in history to register 15000 runs in one-dayers after Sachin Tendulkar.
All these are heady numbers but their batting on the day was even more so – in haste but not in hate.
After scoring 75 runs for the opening wicket with Rohit Sharma, Gill’s innings blossomed in the company of Kohli.
Gill exploited the reprieve he received on 11, when substitute Keemo Paul dropped him off Jayden Seales, to the hilt, first bringing a 50 off 49 balls and the next 50 in 47 balls.
In the interim, there were a litany of shots – a square cut and punch through the covers of Alzarri Joseph, a square cut off Seales and six and four combination off spinner Gudakesh Motie.
They were shots played with the subtle hands of a butterfly curator, and even the bowlers would not have felt the anguish.
Kohli, on the other hand, did what he has been doing all these years – running hard and then unfurling an array of dazzling shots, his blueprint while conducting ODI chases. Just that this time, he showed an increasing appetite for sixes.