Former India captain Virat Kohli is set to return to action in the ODI series opener against England. Kohli, who missed the ODI series against Afghanistan at home last month, will be making his first competitive appearance after recovering from a hamstring injury he sustained during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 final. As Kohli walks out to bat against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham, he can go past legendary Sachin Tendulkar on another ODI list.
Kohli needs another 59 runs to go past Tendulkar on the list of most runs in India-England ODI encounters' history. Tendulkar is currently in the third place with 1,455 runs from 37 games, averaging 44.09, including two centuries and 10 fifties. Kohli isn't took far behind with 1,397 runs from 38 innings, averaging 41.08, featuring three centuries and 10 half-centuries.
Kohli's chance to break Dhoni's all-time record
Currently, India's legendary captain MS Dhoni holds the record for most ODI runs in India-England encounters. From 44 innings, he has 1,546 runs, including a solitary ton and 10 fifties. He averages 46.84 against England in the format.
The second place belongs to legendary all-rounder Yuvraj Singh. The southpaw had scored 1,526 runs from 36 innings, averaging 50.76. His strike rate of 101.60 is only second to Virender Sehwag among batters with 1,000-plus runs in India-England ODIs. Yuvraj also holds the record for most centuries (four) in the two nations' ODI rivalry history. He has scored seven fifties against England as well.
In order to go past Dhoni and Yuvraj, Kohli will need to score 150 runs in the three-ODI series.
Kohli’s ODI record in England
Against England in England, Kohli has 581 runs from 16 innings, averaging 38.73, including a ton and four fifties.
But, his overall ODI record in England (including Champions Trophy and World Cup) is very impressive. From 33 innings, the 37-year-old has 1,349 runs at an average of 51.88. Apart from the one ton, he has 12 ODI fifties on England soil.
Kohli’s previous few outings in Birmingham
The last time he played in Birmingham was in ODI World Cup 2019 against Bangladesh where he scored 26 runs. In the same tournament, he scored 66 runs against England as well. In the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, he registered scores of 81 not out and 96 not out against Pakistan and Bangladesh respectively at the venue.