New Delhi: Team India star Virat Kohli will be chasing multiple milestones in the upcoming ODI series against Australia. The three-match ODI series between the two sides is set to get underway on Sunday, October 19, with the opener to be played at the Optus Stadium in Perth. Kohli will be returning to action for India for the first time since the Champions Trophy 2025 when he takes the field in the 1st ODI against Australia on Sunday.
Having quit T20Is and Test cricket, Kohli only plays ODIs for India. The senior batter will be hoping to make a strong comeback in the Australia series amid questions over his future in international cricket. The 36-year-old, who was India’s second-highest run-getter in the Champions Trophy 2025, needs only 54 runs to become the second-highest run-getter of all time in ODIs.
Virat Kohli 54 runs away from surpassing Kumar Sangakkara
Kohli is currently the third-highest run-getter of all time in ODIs with 14,181 runs at a sublime average of 57.88, including a record 51 centuries. He needs only 54 runs to go past Kumar Sangakkara to attain the second spot on the elite list of batters with the most runs in ODI cricket. Sangakkara amassed 14,234 runs in his ODI career.
If Kohli manages to score 54 runs in the upcoming ODI series against Australia, he will only stand behind the legendary Sachin Tendulkar in the elite list of the highest run-getters in ODIs. Tendulkar holds the record for most runs in ODIs with a staggering 18,426 runs to his name. Kohli, who has 51 tons to his name in the format, had broken Tendulkar’s record for most centuries in the format during the 2023 ODI World Cup.
Virat Kohli on the verge of breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record
Kohli also stands on the cusp of breaking Tendulkar’s record for most runs in white-ball international cricket. The Indian batting maestro needs only 67 runs in the Australia series to go past Tendulkar’s record of 18,436 runs in ODIs and T20Is combined. Kohli currently has 18,369 runs in the two formats combined and is close to surpassing Tendulkar.
Kohli currently has eight centuries against Australia in the ODIs and needs just one more hundred in the upcoming series to equal Tendulkar’s record of most ODI tons by an Indian batter against the Aussies. Tendulkar scored nine centuries against Australia in his ODI career.