Virat Kohli becomes first Indian captain: The Indian captain achieved a couple of significant records against West Indies today.
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During the 34th match of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 between West Indies and India at Old Trafford, India captain Virat Kohli’s 53rd ODI half-century saw him top-scoring for his team as India scored 268/7 in their allotted quota of 50 overs after electing to bat first.
Coming in to bat at No. 3 in the seventh over, Kohli stitched a 69-run partnership for the second wicket alongside opening batsman Lokesh Rahul (48). While he saw wickets continually falling at the other end, he was determined enough to battle it out in the middle.
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On a wicket where Indian batsmen struggled to get going in the middle overs, Kohli remained unperturbed by the surface. Batting as if doing the same on a different wicket altogether, Kohli scored 72 (82) with the help of eight fours before getting out to his counterpart in Jason Holder in the 39th over.
Virat Kohli becomes first Indian captain to score four consecutive 50+ scores in World Cup
During the course of his innings, Kohli became the fastest cricketer to score 20,000 runs across formats. The Indian skipper, who was playing his 417th international innings, surpassed the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, both of whom had achieved the feat in 453 innings.
Another record which Kohli broke was becoming the first Indian captain to score four consecutive 50+ score in a World Cup. While Navjot Singh Sidhu (1987) and Sachin Tendulkar (1996 and 2003) had done the same for India previously, Kohli became the first one to do the same as captain.
Graeme Smith (2007) and Aaron Finch (2019) are the other captain who have scored four consecutive 50+ scores in the World Cup. While Finch doing the same in the ongoing tournament, it will be interesting to see who will win the race between him and Kohli.
Among the other records, India fast bowler Mohammed Shami (6.2-0-16-4) registered the best figures for India in World Cup matches against West Indies. Getting beaten by a 125-run margin, this is West Indies’ third biggest defeat (by runs) in World Cup.
