India skipper Virat Kohli became the fastest batsman to score 20,000 runs in international cricket on Thursday. He reached this milestone in his 417th innings during the World Cup group stage match against West Indies.
The record was previously held by legends Sachin Tendulkar and West Indies’ Brian Lara. Both took 453 innings to reach the milestone whereas it took Kohli 417 innings to score 20,000 runs in international cricket.
Kohli was 37 runs short of the milestone and reached the feat with a single off West Indies skipper Jason Holder in the 25th over. The 30-year-old has so far accumulated 11,549 runs in Tests, besides 1647 runs in T20 cricket.
The skipper also became only the third captain in the history of the World Cup to register four consecutive 50-plus scores. The other captains to achieve this feat are Graeme Smith (in 2007) and Aaron Finch (2019).
India is currently placed third in the World Cup table with nine points from five matches. India is expected to make a smooth entry into the semifinals of the tournament with a win over West Indies. However, West Indies, who are already out of the tournament and have nothing to lose, will be looking to exit the World Cup on high.