Comparison between Virat Kohli and other legends after their first 200 ODIs

2008 was the year when a boy aged 19 helped the Under-19 Indian side triumph in the World Cup in Malaysia. The dream of wearing the senior Indian cap came a few months later, but it took that youngster a couple of years to really settle into the elite level. Once he did, Virat Kohli never looked back and kept breaking record after record to establish himself as one of the greatest batsmen of all time.

The first ODI between India and New Zealand the other day marked his 200th appearance in ODIs. Over the course of time, Kohli provided some magical moments of joy for the Indian fans and his exploits kept raising eyebrows. To replicate the magic over and over again for a span of 7-8 years is simply spectacular and all inspiring.

Not everyone believes he’s the true heir to Sachin Tendulkar, but the statistics recite a different story. Since the time he became a regular in the ODIs, Kohli has been amassing runs at a mind-boggling rate. Many might still say numbers don’t portray the right image but in Kohli’s case, they say he’s way ahead of any of the legends at this point.

Here are some exclusive stats collected by Crictracker’s statistician, which gives insights into various unchartered numbers of Kohli and some other legends of the game like Brian Lara, AB de Villiers, Ricky Ponting, and Tendulkar.

Here’s how the journeys embarked

Most of these players were not allowed to bat in the top 3 in their first few ODIs. Yet, all of them racked up decent numbers and managed to hog the limelight as the “Next Big Thing” in cricket. Lara and Ponting’s numbers suggest they had a similar start to their career, whilst Sachin and De Villiers struggled a bit to score big.

In this phase, Kohli is a tad ahead of Lara and Ponting in terms of runs scored. Tendulkar failed to register a 100 in his first 50 games, whilst De Villiers had one ton, to go with 3 and 4 scores of hundred and above for Lara and Ponting respectively. Kohli, on the other hand, had 5 centuries after his name. Barring the 28-year-old, no one managed to maintain an average in excess of 40.

And the flight takes off!

By the time all these players clocked 100 games for the country, it was evident that they are here to do something spectacular. Sachin Tendulkar was just about turning the backbone of the Indian lineup and Lara established himself as the Prince of the Caribbean Islands. But still, Kohli is the only batsmen of all these cricketers to eclipse the 4,000 mark inside 100 ODIs. Lara fell 6 runs short of the landmark.

As far as centuries are concerned, Kohli is way clear of all these great men. He notched 13 tons by this time and De Villiers and Lara are the next best, with 7 each. Tendulkar only had 4 centuries after his name, whilst Ponting had 6. Apart from Tendulkar, all the other players managed to rake up an average in excess of 40 after their first 100 games.

The youngsters turned mainstays

This was the phase when all these players became an indispensable part of their side. Tendulkar was the lone warrior in the Indian lineup those days and if he had some better companions, his numbers could’ve been a lot better. Kohli and De Villiers’ strike-rate escalated over the 90s and the former’s average was above 50 at this point. Whilst Kohli completed 6,000 runs, the next best (Lara) remained 372 short of him at 5,860 runs.

Once again, Kohli dominates the number of hundreds accumulated at this juncture. Whilst he had 21 tons after his name, De Villiers had 14, Lara and Sachin had 12 each and Ponting had 10. Tendulkar and Ponting amassed relatively lesser runs in this phase. Nevertheless, all these players gained stardom during this time period.

When Kohli and De Villiers became incomparable

De Villiers’ career started to take off from this period and the way he and Kohli went on makes them incomparable with any others in the fraternity. The three kings from the previous generation scored 7,000 odd runs after 200 ODIs, whereas Kohli and AB de Villiers amassed well over 8,500 runs at an average well in excess of 50. De Villiers’ destruction reached another level in this phase as his strike-rate went past the 100 mark.

Once again, there’s no one competing Virat Kohli when it comes to piling up big knocks. He scored 31 hundred after 200 ODIs, second highest in ODI history and well clear of all the other big names in this list. Ponting, Tendulkar, and Lara didn’t have even 20 tons after 200 games, whilst De Villiers had 24 and Kohli had 31.

The only aspect where Kohli came second

Virat Kohli remains well adrift of everyone in various facets mentioned above, but there’s one aspect where he came second. He is well clear of all the other batsmen when it comes to scoring centuries, but De Villiers beats him when it comes to scoring boundaries. Kohli scored more fours than De Villiers, but the latter accounted 184 sixes, which is almost twice as many as Kohli’s.

On the whole, De Villiers accumulated 947 boundaries (763 fours, 184 sixes) whilst Kohli has 923 boundaries (827 fours, 96 sixes) after his name. Ponting is not a cricketer who tends to clear the ropes on regular intervals and hence, he stands last in this list. Lara and Tendulkar’s record in this prospect is quite similar, with the former edging out the latter by small margins.

All those who think Kohli is way beyond many of these players should reconsider their opinion as the numbers might not narrate the true story, but they don’t lie either. Kohli’s uncharacteristic domination is worth an ovation and the consistency he maintains alienates him from the rest.