Indian captain Virat Kohli has been in brilliant form of late, and he was at it once against when he smashed 51 off 63 deliveries against New Zealand in the first ODI in Hamilton (his 58th half-century in ODIs). Although it came in a losing cause, Kohli achieved another personal milestone, this time surpassing former captain Sourav Ganguly in the list of most runs by an Indian captain in ODIs.
Kohli, with his half-century, took his tally to 5123 runs as a skipper, and is now ahead of Ganguly, who has 5082 runs in his kitty. The 31-year-old, as things stand, sit only behind Mohammed Azharuddin (5239) and MS Dhoni (6641) in the list.
Most runs as Indian captain in ODIs:
- 6641 MS Dhoni (172 innings)
- 5239 M Azharuddin (162 innings)
- 5123 Virat Kohli (83 innings)
- 5082 Sourav Ganguly (142 innings)
- On an overall scale, Kohli sits seventh.
Most runs as captain in ODIs:
- Ricky Ponting - 8497 runs in 230 matches
- MS Dhoni- 6641 runs in 200 matches
- Stephen Fleming - 6295 runs in 218 matches
- Arjuna Ranatunga - 5608 runs in 193 matches
- Graeme Smith - 5416 runs in 150 matches
- Mohammad Azharuddin - 5239 runs in 174 matches
- Virat Kohli - 5123 runs in 87 matches
Kohli walked out to bat when debutants Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal stitched a 50-run partnership. After Agarwal was dismissed, Kohli played a 102-run stand with Shreyas Iyer to take India from 54-2 to 156-3. Iyer, on his part, went on to score his maiden ODI ton after being dropped on as many as three different occasions. He was first dropped on eight, then 11 and then on 83.
India play their second ODI on February 8 at Eden Park in Auckland.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Michael Bradley
