Home
Former Pakistan cricketer Wasim Akram lavished praise on India batting great Virat Kohli after his calculated knock against Australia at the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 at Dubai International Stadium in Dubai. Kohli, who came to bat in the fifth over after Shubman Gill's wicket, scored 84 runs in India’s four-wicket win.
With this Kohli became the second batter in the world to cross the 800 run mark while chasing in ODIs. Cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar tops the tally with 8,720 runs in ODI run chases. Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram believes that Kohli will break Tendulkar's record citing his current performance. The top five ODI run-chase scorers in world cricket are Tendulkar, Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Sanath Jayasuriya and Jacques Kallis.
“Look at these all names with the highest run chasers. Sachin, Rohit, Jayasuriya and Kallis. There are the greats of the game and Kohli is definitely going to pass Sachin Tendulkar the way it looks like. Kohli’s average is only second to MS Dhoni. Dhoni got close to 100 and Kohli’s average is close to 90. That’s just phenomenal,” Akram said during the show The Pavillion on Ten Sports.
During his knock against Australia, Kohli became the first player to score 1000 runs in knockout matches of ICC events across all three formats. India ODI and Test captain Rohit Sharma is nearing the batting great with 808 runs. Kohli has also played more knockout matches (21) than anyone else in ICC tournament history. Mahela Jayawardene, Rohit Sharma, and Kumar Sangakkara have played 20 each.
Rohit Sharma-led India will now feature in the Champions Trophy final which is scheduled to start from March 9 at the same venue. India's opponent for the final will be decided after the South Africa vs New Zealand semifinal clash.
