Dhawan, Kohli fly into record books

Virat Kohli keeps piling on the One-Day International records … but there’s another Indian player who is hot on his trail.

Last night, in India’s six-wicket win over Sri Lanka, Kohli flew past 6,000 ODI runs in just his 136th innings – faster than anyone in the history of 50-over cricket.

Kohli made 53 and was bettered only by opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan who scored 91 off just 79 balls in the win – and it’s Dhawan who is attempting to run down Kohli’s record marks.

Last night, the 28-year-old scored his 2,000th ODI run in his 48th innings, making him the quickest Indian ever to reach the figure and the equal fifth-fastest overall – alongside none other than the Master Blaster himself, Viv Richards.

Kohli took 53 innings to reach his 2000th ODI run, but exploded thereafter, to be the equal-fastest (with Richards again) to 5,000 ODI runs, in 114 innings.

The Indian superstar also moved just a single run past Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews to take the lead in terms of ODI runs scored in 2014, with 849.

Both Kohli and Dhawan are currently being made to look almost second-rate however, by South Africa run-machine Hashim Amla, who holds the record for being quickest to 2,000, 3,000 and 4,000 ODI runs.

With Amla sitting on 4,790 runs in just 95 innings, it seems only a matter of time before he leapfrogs Kohli and jumps to the top of the tree.

Dhawan will have to wait to continue his assault on the record books however, having been ruled out of the remainder of the current ODI series. 

Other milestones were reached in the Subcontinental clash last night, as veteran Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene scored 118 and become the fifth player to reach 12,000 ODI runs in the process.

The century was his 17th on ODIs, which puts him alongside countryman Tillakaratne Dilshan, Protea Jacques Kallis and West Indian Desmond Haynes.

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