Virat Kohli: Master of the 50-over game
In six one-day internationals in South Africa through February 2018, Virat Kohli scored 558 runs. By far the most prolific batsman between the two sides. At No.2 was Shikhar Dhawan, 235 behind with 323 runs. Hashim Amla, the best of the South African batsmen, scored only 154 runs, explaining the series scoreline: 5-1 in favour of India.
Kohli’s scores in the series were 112, 46*, 160*, 75, 36 and 129*. Little wonder then that he has climbed to the top of the MRFTyresICC ODI Player Rankings for batsmen, with 909 rating points. That’s mammoth, the highest for a batsman since 26 March 1993, when Brian Lara got to a career-high 908 points.
For a bit of perspective, Lara got where he did after the 824th ODI ever played. The last game of the South Africa vs India series was ODI No. 3978, underscoring Kohli’s brilliance in the format, where he has racked up an incredible record.
Kohli in ODIs
| Matches | Runs | Average | Best | Strike rate | 100s/50s |
| 208 | 9588 | 58.10 | 183 | 92.14 | 35/46 |
That average, more common in Test cricket but even then quite rare, places Kohli right on top of the tree for batsmen who have played at least 50 ODIs. Even without that condition, only the Netherlands’ Ryan ten Doeschate has a higher average than Kohli, 67.00 from 33 games.
Highest ODI career batting average (min 50 games)
| Player | Matches | Runs | Average |
| Virat Kohli | 208 | 9588 | 58.1 |
| Michael Bevan | 232 | 6912 | 53.58 |
| AB de Villiers | 228 | 9577 | 53.5 |
| MS Dhoni | 318 | 9967 | 51.37 |
| Jonathan Trott | 68 | 2819 | 51.25 |
NOTE: Babar Azam (51.11), Joe Root (50.91), Ambati Rayudu (50.23) and Hashim Amla (50.23) are the only others with averages above 50. Of them, Azam (41) and Rayudu (34) have played fewer than 50 ODIs.
To return to the ODI series in South Africa and Kohli’s 558 runs, it was the highest aggregate in a bilateral ODI series ever, and at No.7 in the list including multi-nation events, where the number of matches is typically much higher.
Most runs in a bilateral ODI series
| Player | Series | Matches | Runs |
| Virat Kohli | vs South Africa (away) - 2017/18 | 6 | 558 |
| Rohit Sharma | vs Australia (home) - 2013/14 | 6 | 491 |
| George Bailey | vs India (away) - 2013/14 | 6 | 478 |
| Hamilton Masakadza | vs Kenya (home) - 2009/10 | 5 | 467 |
| Chris Gayle | vs India (away) - 2002/03 | 7 | 455 |
And in terms of the best-ever ICC ODI championship ratings, Kohli is right up there at No.7 now – the ones above him all achieved their highs in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Highest career ratings in ODIs (batsmen)
| Player | Ranking points | Date |
| Viv Richards | 935 | 2 December 1985 |
| Zaheer Abbas | 931 | 20 June 1983 |
| Greg Chappell | 921 | 3 February 1981 |
| David Gower | 919 | 15 June 1983 |
| Dean Jones | 918 | 9 March 1991 |
| Javed Miandad | 910 | 8 October 1987 |
| Virat Kohli | 909 | 20 February 2018 |
| Brian Lara | 908 | 26 March 1993 |
| AB de Villiers | 902 | 24 March 2015 |
| Hashim Amla | 901 | 5 September 2012 |
NOTE: Gary Kirsten (900 – 19 October 1996) and Desmond Haynes (900 – 23 April 1985) are the only other batsmen to have breached the 900-point mark in ODIs.
The Indian run-machine on winning two big prizes at the ICC Awards.
Kohli has been the pre-eminent batsman in ODI cricket in recent times, stacking up outstanding numbers even as India charged to the top of the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings following the series win in South Africa.
By the time the series got over, he had scored 35 ODI centuries, second only to Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49, and well ahead of the pack of active cricketers: Amla comes in at No. 2 with 26 three-figure scores in the format and de Villiers at No. 3 with 25. An amazing achievement by one of the greats of the modern game. And he’s yet to turn 30!