Who is the King of Cricket in the World?

Former India skipper and world no. 1 batsman Virat Kohli has undoubtedly been the king of cricket in the world. The ICC Player of the decade has owned every format he has played in over the last 10-12 years, scoring a whopping 77 centuries across all formats.

Making his debut on August 18, 2008, Virat Kohli would go on to win the 2011 World Cup with India and has made the number 3 position his own ever since. Coming to the 2023 ODI World Cup, Kohli has scored an unbelievable 13,083 runs in 281 matches with an average of 57.38.

He sits first on the list of batsmen having scored the most number of centuries against a single team. Kohli’s record of 10 tons against Sri Lanka in ODIs is followed by his own record of nine centuries against the West Indies. He has also been the fastest batsman to reach 8000, 9000, 10,000, and 11,000 runs in ODI cricket.

However, more than these records Kohli has successfully created a perception that previously only Sachin Tendulkar had. Indian cricket fans believe they could win as long as Kohli stands on the crease. An absolute master of chasing down targets, Virat Kohli averages above 60 when he has to meet a target. He has 26 centuries and 36 half-centuries while chasing before he came to the 2023 World Cup.  

Whether it be his 183-run knock against Pakistan in the 2012 Asia Cup, innings of 100 and 115 against Australia during the 2013 series, or the most famous chase of 320 runs within 37 overs in the Commonwealth Bank Series, where Kohli remained unbeaten at 133, Kohli is synonymous to hope for Indian fans.   

In the 39 successful run chases that Kohli has participated in T20Is, he is averaging 90 and has made 16 fifties in that time.

Some of his more memorable knocks while chasing include his highest score of 183 against Pakistan. His 52-ball 100 and 66-ball 115 against Australia in India are a couple more of his tons while chasing that stand out.

Not as effective as the white-ball format, but Kohli’s Test stats aren’t underwhelming either. He has tallied 8676 runs in 111 matches with an average of 49.29. He had taken just 138 matches to reach 7000 runs in the longest format and captained India in one of their most glorious Test era.

While Kohli couldn’t lift an ICC trophy as India’s captain, he was still a great captain for India. Captaining India in 68 Test matches, he led India to 40 wins with a win percentage of 59.

Virat Kohli gets even better in ODIs, leading India to 65 wins out of 95 matches, sitting behind MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly and Mohammed Azharuddin. He sits only second behind Dhoni (6641) in most runs scored as captain. Kohli has 5449 runs as Indian skipper having captained 105 less matches than Dhoni.

The stat isn’t very different in the T20I format, where Kohli has won 30 of the 50 matches he has captained in, sitting just behind Dhoni. However, Kohli is the fastest captain to reach 1000 T20I runs.

Who is the king of cricket in IPL?

The king of cricket in IPL is Virat Kohli, again. Despite not having won the IPL trophy both as a player and as a captain, Kohli’s career in the celebrated Indian T20 league has been nothing short of phenomenal.
 

Having been a part of the Indian Premier League since the inaugural season, Kohli has tallied over 7000 runs in 237 matches. Kohli averages 37.25 with a strike rate of 130.02. He boasts of an unbelievable seven centuries and 50 half-centuries in the tournament.
  
Kohli’s best season in IPL 2016, when the Royal Challengers Bangalore tallied a whopping 973 runs in a single season. He went on to score four centuries and seven half-centuries in 16 matches.

Who is the new King of cricket?

While there is no definitive name for this label, few names have been thrown in the mix since Virat Kohli’s emergence. Topping the list is Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, who has fast rose as a classy batsman across all formats of the game. Azam had reached his 10,000 runs in 228 innings, which is four less than how many Kohli took.

Apart from Babar Azam, names like Australia’s Steve Smith and England’s Joe Root have also been great batsmen of the game in Tests, ODIs and T20Is.

Who is the king of T20 cricket?

While Virat Kohli might have performed well across all three formats of the game, it is Chris Gayle who has ruled the T20 format with absolute aplomb. The former West Indies captain and Kohli’s teammate from RCB made T20 as exciting as it is today.