It was on June 12, 2010, when India was touring Zimbabwe, Virat Kohli was awarded the T20I cap, and his unbeaten 26 runs on debut powered India's win in that match. On Sunday, the India Vs Pakistan Asia Cup clash was Kohli's 100th match in the shortest format. Only 14 cricketers so far have achieved the feat of stepping on to the ground to play their 100th T20I match, and the Delhi lad is one among them. And it's not only in T20I, he has done it in all three formats of competitive international cricket. It took nearly 12 years for 'King' Kohli, as he is fondly called, to reach this milestone.
Kohli's Journey In Numbers
In the history of men's international cricket, as many as 272 players in ODIs, 72 in Tests and 14 in T20Is have played 100 matches in the respective formats. Until today, only one cricketer had played 100 matches in all three formats — New Zealand's Ross Taylor. India's Virat Kohli is now only the second player to achieve this feat. In his 99 appearances so far, Kohli has amassed a total of 3,308 runs, following Kiwi Martin Guptill (3497) and Rohit Sharma (3487). Kohli stands out with his dominant average of nearly 50 runs across the formats, displaying his tactical brilliance and consistency.
Kohli is also the second Indian to play 100 matches in T20I after skipper Rohit Sharma, who played most men's T20I matches by featuring in 133 playing XIs. Kohli raked up an unparalleled six Player of the Series awards and stands second with 12 Man of the Match awards after Afghanistan's Mohammad Nabi (13).
Kohli can be considered exemplary in the T20 World Cup, considering his performance in the 19 innings. He has scored 845 runs in these 19 matches with an emphatic average of 76.81 with the help of 50+ runs scored in 10 innings. He secured two Player of the Tournament awards — 2014 and 2016 — in the showpiece event.
As India take on Pakistan in a much-awaited Asia Cup match Sunday, Kohli has the best T20I average against the arch-rivals — 77.8 — followed by England's Kevin Pietersen (69.6), and South Africa's JP Duminy (53.5).
Virat Kohli is currently in a rare bad form in his career as he could score only 81 runs in his last five innings. Cricket pundits have criticised the former skipper for this. All eyes are on Kohli to see if he redeems himself in the Asia Cup.