On August 18, 2008, made his ODI and international debut for India. The man who had only some months back led India to victory in the Under-19 World Cup final had now graduated to the senior level.
It was not a debut to remember as he made just 12. But fast forward to 2026, the man has played for India for 18 years and the then 19-year-old is less than three months away from turning 38. He’s retired from Tests and T20Is and is hailed as the best batter of this generation.
‘King’ vs ‘Master Blaster’
Kohli is in the twilight of his career and at the moment, is chasing as many as six world records that are currently held by .The righthander and former India skipper is expected to play or another year or two at the most as he looks to make a case for himself to be on the plane to South Africa for the next year. The six records on his radar are most ODI runs, international runs, international 100s, ODI 50+ scores, international 50+ scores and fastest to 15,000 ODI runs.
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The Huge Gap in Between
As far as ODI runs are concerned, Sachin leads the pack with 18,426 while Kohli is 2nd with 14,941. Kohli needs 3486 runs to go past the ‘Master Blaster’. But it may be just a little too much for ‘King’ when the time factor comes into play. In international runs, the gap is even wider as he must score another 5999 runs to go past Sachin. It’s next to impossible even if he has three brilliant calendar years.
Maybe a Bit Too Much Even for ‘King’
With 85 100s across all formats, Kohli must score 16 to surpass Sachin’s tally of 100. Since he plays only ODIs, the opportunities will be limited. Even if he plays every game for India for the next year or so, he has to score a century every 2nd or 3rd innings to achieve the feat. Not impossible, yes, but ‘King’ is only human at the end of the day. The same goes for 50+ scores as Kohli must go past the half-century mark at least 13 times to beat Sachin’s record. Maybe raising the bar, a little too much, even for the best player in the world right now.
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One Realistic Record
If Kohli scores over 50 on 32 occasions, he will surpass Sachin’s tally of 264 international scores above 50, the most by any player. Again, because he plays only ODIs, he is restricted in his opportunities as time flies by. Perhaps the only record that has a realistic chance of breaking is being the fastest 15,000 ODI runs. Kohli needs to score another 59 runs and has as many as 74 innings to do it, so it will happen easily. He could do it in the very next game he plays.
Milestones That Are Not Too Far
While the world records may not come his way, there are two milestones that are loading. First, he could complete 15,000 ODI runs and then if he is around long enough, breach the 30,000-run barrier at international level. To achieve the latter, 1641 runs are needed which is a bit steep, but the next 12-15 months could see him get close if not break through. Form and fitness also have their roles along with time and it remains to be seen how many runs, 100s and 50s Kohli finishes with when he brings down the curtain on his international career.