Champions Trophy: Virat Kohli Becomes Fastest to 14,000 ODI Runs Milestone

In an above-average elite assembly of legends, on Sunday, the iconic Indian cricket maestro, Virat Kohli, inscribed his name in history by becoming the fastest batter to scale over 14,000 runs in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) during India's match against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy.

This time, the hit set Kohli into a select group; he became the third cricketer to breach this milestone in the entire history of ODIs. He also followed the illustrious Indian, Sachin Tendulkar, who collected a record 18,246 runs, and Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka, who made 14,234 runs in his career.

Record Shattering Feat
Considering the pace in which he has achieved the milestone, it makes the feat even more delightful. The Indian batting star scaled the 14,000 mark only in 287 innings, leaving Tendulkar at 350 and Sangakkara at 378 outings.

The Last 15 Runs
Before entering today's game, Kohli needed just 15 runs for achieving the milestone. He got that from Haris Rauf through covers with his drive during the 13th over of India's chase.

Earlier Milestones and Century Achievements
Kohli is a trendsetter in records at the speed of lightning, for he had already earned glory-fastest to reach 13000 runs in ODIs during the Asia Cup in September 2023 against Pakistan in Colombo. His feats did not let him down as he went on to smash Sachin Tendulkar's old record for most ODI centuries with 50 centuries, achieving that feat during the 2023 World Cup semifinal against New Zealand in Mumbai.

New Fielding Record
Earlier in the same match, Kohli made another record, going past former captain Mohammad Azharuddin's tally for most catches by an Indian fielder in ODIs. He reached this milestone of taking his 157th catch in his 299th appearance for India, surpassing Azharuddin, who had 156 catches in 334 matches between 1985 and 2000. Kohli later extended his record by securing his 158th catch, dismissing Khushdil Shah at deep midwicket off Harshit Rana's bowling.

Climbing up to the ODI Run Table
Now Kohli wants to climb even higher on the leaderboard of all-time highest run-scorers in ODIs. Although catching Tendulkar's phenomenal total, 18,426 runs, seems a bit out of reach, Kohli looks extremely well placed to push past Sangakkara's total of 14,234 runs, which might happen during this very Champions Trophy.

Another Record around the Corner
Kohli stands on the verge of achieving yet another milestone in history: Should India take the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025, and Kohli would then join Rohit Sharma as the first two Indians to lay claim to four ICC titles as winners. The status has already been acquired by Kohli in the victorious teams of India in the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011, the ICC Champions Trophy 2013, and the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.