Virat Kohli displaced from his position; Kane Williamson with a stunning hundred surpassed the Indian veteran on the elite list
Whenever it comes to ODI cricket in modern times, one name often comes under the radar, and that is of veteran Indian batter Virat Kohli. Players like Virat Kohli have often drawn comparisons among the 4 greatest players of his generation, with New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, Australia’s Steve Smith, and England’s Joe Root being the other three.
Virat Kohli is the fourth-highest run-getter in international cricket and also has the third-most runs in the history of the One Day format. Kohli has the international record of scoring the fastest 8000, 9000, 10000, 11000, 12000, and 13000 runs in ODI cricket.
Hashim Amla is the only player to have scored 7,000 ODI runs faster than veteran Virat Kohli, while now the legendary Kiwi batter has surpassed the likes of the Indian veteran.
Kane Williamson scored a terrific hundred against South Africa in the Tri-series
Kane Williamson, the Kiwi batter, is back playing in limited-overs cricket for New Zealand, and the Kiwi batsman is excelling as a batter under the new skipper Mitchell Santner. After a comeback fifty in the first ODI against Pakistan, the host nation, the Kiwi former skipper backed the 300+ chase with a stellar hundred.
Williamson led the batting by example alongside Devon Conway, who also marked his return to the 11, following a brief setback owing to injuries and lack of form. However, it's good news all around for the Kiwis, as their best batters are returning to form before the onset of the Champions Trophy.
Kane Williamson scored an unbeaten 133* off just 113 balls against South Africa after they put a huge 305-run total at the back of Breetzke’s maiden 150 on debut. Williamson was also chosen as the Player of the Match, in which New Zealand advanced into the finals of the Tri-Series.
Kane Williamson goes past Kohli to attain the No. 2 spot
Kane surpasses King Kohli in ODI elite list (Image Credit: X)
Virat Kohli earlier was the second fastest to 7000 ODI runs, only behind South African veteran Hashim Amla, who reached the milestone in just 151 innings, while the Indian veteran took 161 innings to achieve the same milestone.
While the Blackcap kingpin, Kane Williamson, scored a stellar hundred, he completed 7000 ODI runs in just 159 innings and hence became the second fastest batter to do so, replacing Virat from the second spot.
With this, Kane also turned into only the fifth New Zealand batter after Stephen Fleming, Ross Taylor, Martin Guptill, and Nathan Astle to have scored more than 7000 runs in the white-ball limited-overs format. With this, he also became New Zealand’s quickest batter to 7000 ODI runs, leaving behind Guptill comfortably by a huge margin of innings.
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