Who Is the Run Machine of Cricket?

Cricket is one of the most popular sports in the world spread across 108 national teams registered with the International Cricket Council (ICC). The ever-growing sport has witnessed numerous cricketers rise through the ranks and don the cricket field since the early 1800s. However, very few have been able to leave an everlasting impact on the gentlemen’s game. One of those names is Virat Kohli, also referred to as the “Run Machine of Cricket”.

The global icon received the accolade due to his unending hunger for scoring runs across conditions irrespective of the game’s format. Kohli is not just a name in Indian cricket but an emotion. Since his international debut in 2008, the 36-year-old has dominated the field with the willow, breaking records for fun. In this piece, we shall delve deep into the accolades and numbers of the Run Machine of Cricket.

Virat Kohli in Test Cricket

One of the greatest to have donned in the whites, Virat Kohli has amassed 30 tons and 31 half-centuries in Test cricket. His latest century came against the mighty OZ where Kohli smacked a fabulous century in the first Test in Perth. India did win the game but failed to triumph in the series. 

Kohli’s Test average was over 50 before the pandemic but a sudden dip in form led him behind in the fab four including Kane Williamson, Steve Smith, and Joe Root. However, his numbers are still too good to hail him as one of the greats. 

Kohli has a Test batting average of over 50 against South Africa and Sri Lanka while the numbers are over 40 against the rest of the full members except New Zealand. Afghanistan, Ireland, Zimbabwe, and Pakistan are teams against which he didn’t play a game in the red-ball format. 

Bangladesh is the only country where the Delhi-born didn’t score a century despite batting in five innings. After 14 home centuries, he has the most centuries in Australia as the number reflects seven. However, it’s worth stating that Kohli has scored only three tons in 39 matches since 2020.

Kohli’s favourite opponents have been the mighty Australians, against whom he has scored 2042 runs in 25 matches with an average of 47.48. He also has eight centuries against the Aussies, six of which have come Down Under in their backyard. Kohli has been supreme against England as well, tallying 1991 runs in 28 matches with an average of 42.36. Two of Kohli’s five tons against England have come away from home. Other countries against whom Virat Kohli has tallied over 1000 runs are South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies.

Virat Kohli in ODIs

Inarguably the best ODI batsman to ever come out of India and become the world’s best, Virat Kohli is simply unreal in the 50-over format. He ended as the highest run-scorer in the 2023 ODI World Cup, tallying 765 runs in 11 matches and bringing up his 50th ODI century in the process. With 13906 runs in 295 matches so far, Kohli is the third-highest run-scorer in the history of ODIs.

Apart from having the most number of ODI centuries, Kohli also has the record of scoring the most number of centuries against one team - 10 tons against Sri Lanka in 53 games, five of which came in Sri Lanka. Kohli has tallied 2594 runs against the Lankans with an average of 63.26. Kohli has dominated Australia in the 50-over format as well, summing up 2367 runs in 49 games with an average of 53.79, followed by West Indies (2261 runs with an average of 66.50).

While Kohli wasn’t a part of India’s glorious 2007 World T20 winning team, he has been almost undroppable from the T20 international team since making his debut on June 12, 2010. The top-order batsman has been absolutely crucial for the team, tallying 4188 runs across 125 matches at a strike rate of 137.04. Currently, Kohli is the third-highest run-getter in T20Is, behind Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam. He is also the joint-second in the list of most Player of the Match awards (16) in T20Is while the best in the Player of the Series (17) charts in T20I.

Australia and England are still the opponents against whom Kohli has scored the most amount of runs, even in the shortest format. While Kohli has 794 runs against the Aussies, against England he has 639 runs in almost the same number of games. India’s archrival Pakistan is another opponent, whom Kohli loves to play in T20Is, tallying 488 runs against them in 10 games at an average of 81.33. His only T20I ton came against Afghanistan in the 2022 Asia Cup. 

One of the memorable performances that the former Indian captain put up was in the 2024 T20 World Cup Final against South Africa at the Kensington Oval, Barbados. If not for his 59-ball 76 runs knock at times of adversity, India would not be able to triumph in the global event. He was quintessential in propelling India to 176 runs that the bowlers defended by seven runs. He hit six fours and a couple of sixes in the vital knock and earned the Player of the Match award to draw curtains on the International version of the limited format.