India vs New Zealand, semi-final, World Cup 2019: Captain Virat Kohli on the cusp of massive World Cup record

Indian captain Virat Kohli has been in consistent form this World Cup. He has, so far, scored five half-centuries, and has 442 runs this competition. However, he has not managed to convert these 50s into centuries, which is rather strange considering his own lofty standards, but the skipper has been a fulcrum around which the Indian batting has revolved.

And as always is the case, every time Kohli marches out to bat, he is on the cusp of toppling a record. In the match against New Zealand, he needs 24 runs to overtake Sourav Ganguly’s figure of 465 runs in a single edition and become the Indian captain with the most runs in a single edition.

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If he does manage to notch up his first century at Old Trafford, he will breach these records:

o Score his 1st World Cup century as skipper; he will be the 3rd Indian skipper to do so after Kapil Dev & Sourav Ganguly.

o Score centuries in 3 successive World Cups. Amongst Indians, he will emulate Sachin Tendulkar (who managed it in 1996, 1999 & 2003).

India’s success at this World Cup has been built on the heavy scoring of a Rohit Sharma-led batting top order, but batting coach Sanjay Bangar rejected suggestions the team’s middle order was undercooked.

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“I don’t think so,” the former test all-rounder said, highlighting the cameos played by Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and Mahendra Singh Dhoni during the group stage.

“Of course the middle order hasn’t got to bat for a longer period of time, except for the Afghanistan game. But Hardik has done a role, Mahi has done a role and Rishabh has had a few good knocks.

First Published: Jul 08, 2019 11:20 IST