Virat Kohli is Now India's No.1 Batsman

Virat Kohli went from being the future of Indian cricket, to 'The Now', during the tour of Australia that saw the Delhi lad assume the throne of India's batting mainstay in all formats.

By the end of the 78-day tour, Kohli had scored more runs than anyone. He participated in all warm-ups, Tests, ODIs, and T20s; bore the brunt of an angry Indian media on few occasions, and even kept India alive in the tri-series with a heroic effort at Hobart. For someone on his first tour to Australia, he displayed veteran-like proficiency. Though he got dragged into few controversies, none could ever doubt his batting prowess.

Along the way, he earned the respect from both dressing rooms, and will be the leading light for India when they return Down Under to defend their World Cup title in 2015.



Run machine

India's run machine is in no mood to slow down. On Tuesday, playing in his 83rd one-dayer, he became the fastest-ever to score ten hundreds. Even the great Sachin Tendulkar needed 134 games to complete ten tons.

If Kohli manages an unlikely 659 runs from his next six games, he will become the fastest-ever to 4,000 runs.

He is already the fastest Indian, and fourth fastest batsman to score 3,000 runs (in just 75 ODIs). With 30 fifty-plus scores in 80 innings, Kohli has been unstoppable since his debut in 2008.

For Kohli, it's become all too easy now. On Tuesday, he also became the only Indian to score back-to-back hundreds on two occasions. In 2010-11, he scored successive tons against Australia and New Zealand, at Vizag & Guwahati respectively.

Amazing Virat

* Virat now averages a ton every 8.3 ODIs. This remains the fastest by any batsman in the world (by a long shot).

* Sachin Tendulkar's tenth ton came in his 134th ODI -- 51 more games than Kohli's tally of 83 matches.

* Vivian Richards took 133 matches, Brian Lara took 109, and Ricky Ponting took 150 games to get 10 tons.

* Virat's batting average of 48.82 in 83 ODIs is the fifth best among all batsmen who have scored more than 3000 career runs.

*Kohli also became the only Indian to score back-to-back hundreds in ODIs on two occasions.

Related Links:

Virat Kohli innings highlights

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