NEW DELHI (Agencies): Virat Kohli has added yet another feather to his illustrious cap as the flamboyant batsman became only the fourth Indian captain ever to score 4000 runs in ODIs. In the process, Kohli (63 innings) also surpassed South African superstar AB de Villiers (77 innings) to become the fastest player to score 4000 ODI runs as captain.
Kohli – who slammed his 40th ODI ton in the second match in Nagpur – achieved the milestone in style as he hit a striking boundary to go past the score of 27 during the third one-dayer against Australia at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi on Friday. Chasing 314, Kohli made a classy 123 off 95 balls – his back-to-back century against Australia – to keep India in the hunt before being bowled by Adam Zampa at a crucial time. Kohli joined the elite list which already has big names of MS Dhoni (6641), Mohammad Azharuddin (5239) and Sourav Ganguly (5104) ahead of him.
The Indian run-machine, who had 3973 runs to his name prior to this match, has also become the 12th cricketer overall to score 4000 runs as captain in ODIs. Earlier in the day, Indian pacers covered up commendably for a rare off-day endured by the spinners as Australia were restricted to 313 despite a 193-run opening stand between skipper Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja. Khawaja (104, 113 balls) scored his maiden ODI ton while skipper Finch (93, 99 balls) chose this particular match to get back to form. Glenn Maxwell (47 off 31 balls) also contributed with lusty blows. The Indian spinners — Ravindra Jadeja (0/64 in 10 overs) and Kedar Jadhav (0/32 in 2 overs) — were carted all around the park. Kuldeep Yadav (3/64 in 10 overs), however, redeemed himself at the back-end of the innings.
