Second God Of Cricket

Introduction

After his idol, Sachin Tendulkar, who is referred to be the God of Cricket, many people consider former India cricket captain Virat Kohli to be the Second God of Cricket. Kohli, the recipient of the ICC Men’s Player of the Decade award, has unquestionably been the greatest batsman in international cricket for the past ten years, outclassing even his elite peers Rohit Sharma, Joe Root, Steve Smith, and others.

Since Sunil Gavaskar, India has produced some incredibly talented batters, which is fairly remarkable. Sachin Tendulkar succeeded Gavaskar, while Kohli succeeded the Master Blaster. After 28 years, they both played in the same starting eleven that helped India win their second ODI World Cup victory. The rest is history.

Why Is Virat Kohli Referred To As Cricket’s “Second God”?

Even though Kohli hasn’t broken every record held by Tendulkar—and, considering his age, it seems unlikely—he has recently surpassed Sachin in the record for most runs scored in an ODI World Cup.

Kohli amassed an incredible 711 runs in the 2023 ODI World Cup, easily the most by any cricket player in the history of the competition in a single edition. In the process, Kohli shattered Tendulkar’s record, which stood at 673 runs, set by the Master Blaster in 2003 when India had advanced to the final in South Africa.

In addition, here are a few more examples of when Kohli proved to the world that he is superior to Tendulkar.

Virat Kohli Biography

One of the most renowned cricketers of his time, Virat Kohli was born in Delhi, India, on November 5, 1988. His meteoric rise from a cricket-mad youngster to one of the game’s all-time great batsmen is an inspiration. A brief biography of Virat Kohli is presented here:

Background & Early Life: The son of middle-class Punjabi parents Prem and Saroj Kohli, Virat Kohli was born into the Kohli family. His mom was a stay-at-home mom and his dad was a criminal defense attorney. As a child in Uttam Nagar, Delhi, Kohli had a passion for the sport of cricket.

Kohli began his cricket career at the West Delhi Cricket Academy when he was nine years old, receiving his first coaching there. Even at an early age, his talent shone through, and he swiftly advanced in the age-group cricket league in Delhi.

In his own country, Kohli debuted for Delhi in the first class in 2006, when he was just eighteen years old. He became an integral part of the Delhi squad and a reliable run scorer in domestic cricket quite quickly.

Kohli debuted for the Indian national cricket team in a one-day international match against Sri Lanka in August 2008. He demonstrated his bat-handling prowess right away, making an impression.

Kohli rose to fame after a pivotal performance in India’s 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup triumph marked his breakthrough. His remarkable fitness, aggressive batting style, and knack for chasing down targets under duress brought him widespread renown.

Kohli became the Test captain of the Indian cricket team in 2014 after taking over the command of the squad in the limited-overs formats in 2013. Success in bilateral series and ICC tournaments were among the many accomplishments of the Indian team during his tenure as captain.

Impressions: Among Virat Kohli’s many accomplishments is his status as one of the cricket world’s quickest players to reach a number of significant milestones. The quickest player to score8,000,9,000,10,000, and 11,000 runs in one-day international cricket is him, and he also holds a slew of other records.

Virat Kohli Test, ODI, and T20I career statistics

Quickest to Complete 10,000 ODI Runs:

On October 24, 2018, Virat Kohli scored 81 runs to reach 10,000 ODI runs while leading his team to an undefeated 157 runs. In 205 innings, a world record, he achieved the milestone, 54 fewer than Tendulkar, who had done so in 259 innings against Australia in 2001.

In addition to Tendulkar, Kohli had reached this milestone by defeating 12 other batsmen, such as the legendary Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka and the former captain of India, MS Dhoni. Australia’s Ricky Ponting (266 innings) and Sourav Ganguly (263 innings) were among the other notable players on this top list. After just ten years and sixty-seven days after his ODI debut, Kohli reached 10,000 runs.

Quickest to Complete 12,000 ODI Runs:

Virat Kohli then scored his 12,000th ODI run in a match against Australia in Rajkot, after his 10,000-run milestone. When the two games of the three-match ODI series began, Kohli needed just 23 runs to get 12,000 runs, and he did so in just 242 innings—that is, 37 innings after reaching 10,000 runs.

In doing so, he smashed Tendulkar’s record of hitting 12,000 ODI runs in 300 innings, 58 more innings than Kohli, and became the fastest batter in cricket history to do so.

Virat Kohli: Highest Rated Indian Batsman Ever in ODIs

When New Zealand visited India in 2017 for a three-match ODI series, the Indian team’s skipper at the time, Virat Kohli, was in incredible form. In that series, he scored 121, 29, and 113. With an ICC rating of 889, Kohli thereby overtook his contemporaries and RCB teammate AB de Villiers to reclaim the top spot.

Additionally, since Sachin Tendulkar achieved it in 1998, this was the greatest ICC batting rating that an Indian has ever received. With an 887 career rating, the Master Blaster received the highest rating of all.

Virat Kohli ODI Records

As of the year 2024, the former Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli is generally considered to be one of the top batting prospects in One Day Internationals (ODIs). Kohli has been one of the top-ranked one-day international batters according to ICC rankings and other statistical analysis on a consistent basis. “Highest rated” might mean different things depending on the measure in question.

Among the many reasons why Virat Kohli is among the best one-day international cricketers are:

• Batting Average: Kohli has an outstanding batting average in one-day international cricket, averaging more than 50 during his whole career. He stands out from the crowd because to his knack for scoring runs on the regular and turning good starts into massive scores.
• Centuries:  When it comes to one-day internationals, Kohli has an impressive record of hundreds scored. His remarkable consistency and speed in amassing runs are on display in his records as the quickest player to reach8,000,9,000,10,000,11,000, and 12,000 runs in one-day international cricket.
• ICC Rankings: In one-day internationals, Kohli has frequently been deemed the best batsman by the ICC. His match-winning performances and batting consistency have kept him at the top of the standings for long stretches.
• Impact on Matches: Kohli’s resilience and key performance have been pivotal to numerous Indian victories in one-day international cricket. His aggressive yet strategic batting style has frequently swung games in India’s favor.
• Records and Milestones: Kohli has set a number of records in one-day international cricket, including the record for most century in successful run-chases, the record for the quickest player to reach certain run-scoring milestones, and many more. His impeccable technique and reliability in the format are proven by these records.

In one-day international cricket, Virat Kohli is often considered to be among the best players due to his outstanding performances, consistency, and match-changing influence. His outstanding achievements solidified his place in cricket history as one of the modern game’s all-time greats and continue to motivate supporters worldwide.

Virat Kohli Fastest 50 International Centuries

In 2017, while Sri Lanka were being hosted at the Eden Gardens, Virat Kohli made history with his unbeaten 104 runs, which put India in a strong position while their whole middle order collapsed for single digits. Kohli reached 50 hundreds across all forms with his ton, even though India drew the match.

After hitting 18 centuries in Tests, Kohli tied South Africa’s Hashim Amla for most centuries scored in an innings at 50. Sachin Tendulkar needed 376 innings to reach 50 international centuries; this was 28 innings short of him. Nonetheless, Tendulkar retired with 100 centuries—20 more than current 35-year-old Virat Kohli.

Virat Kohli: The Only Batsman to Score 50 ODI Centuries

It was decided in Nagpur that Kohli will become the first batsman in cricket history to score fifty one-day international hundreds. On November 15, 2023, in front of a raucous audience that included Tendulkar, Kohli finally achieved his 50th ODI century against New Zealand at the Wankhede. He scored 117 runs. Most importantly, it was the semi-final match of the 2023 World Cup.

The key to Tendulkar’s unmatched career has been longevity, which Kohli must emulate. His scoring rate, fitness, and consistency are better than his idol’s, thus he wouldn’t even need to match him game by game. His ODI World Cup record goes to the bottom of this.

Tendulkar has played in four more World Cups than Kohli has, but the gap between them is narrow at 483 runs. He needs just one more century to tie Tendulkar’s World Cup record of six, and he needs three more to equal his half-century record of fifteen.

Virat Kohli is unstoppable in Twenty20 International World Cups. With 1141 runs in 25 games at an incredible average of 81.50, he tops the scoreboard. The now-retired Mahela Jayawardene scored 1016 runs, putting her in second place all-time.

FAQs

In Twenty20 cricket, who is the deity?

A New Deity in Twenty20 Cricket: Rohit Sharma. His versatility and supremacy for India are quite astounding. India could have fallen to New Zealand in the Twenty20 International series… The resurrection of Rohit Sharma for Team India is indicative of his phenomenal growth in the Twenty20 format.