India vs West Indies: Virat Kohli joins two batting greats in an elite cricket list

Virat Kohli on Saturday became the third batsman after Ricky Ponting and Kumar Sangakkara to complete 8000 runs in ODI cricket while in the number three position. Kohli completed the milestone during the third ODI against the West Indies in Pune.

Former Australian skipper Ponting (12662 runs) and Sri Lanka’s Sangakkara (9747 runs) are the top-two run scorers at the No.3 position, while Kohli is currently third in the list. South Africa’s Jacques Kallis is fourth with 7774 runs.

Records are, however, nothing new to the India skipper, who has already broken a few records this series. During the second ODI at Vishakhapatnam, where Kohli registered his second century in as many matches, he also became only the 13^th cricketer to cross the 10,000 runs in ODI cricket.

Kohli scored 140 in the first match, which India won by eight wickets, while also making a 157 not out from 129 balls in the second ODI. The second match ended in a thrilling tie.

The 29-year-old is also the fastest cricketer to have reached 10,000 ODI runs. He took just 205 innings to reach the landmark, 54 innings less than the previous best Sachin Tendulkar, who took 259 innings to reach the milestone.

 Batting first, West Indies made 283/9 with Shai Hope making 95 off 113 deliveries that included six fours and three maximums. Ashley Nurse and Shimron Hetmyer also contributed with a vital 40 and 37 respectively.

Jasprit Bumrah was the highest wicket-taker for India with figures of 10-1-35-4 while Kuldeep Yadav came with two wickets.

In reply, India were off to a poor start with Rohit Sharma going with nine runs on board. Shikhar Dhawan (35) and Kohli stitched together a 79-run partnership to resurrect the Indian innings. But regular wickets meant India were bundled out for 240, despite Kohli registering his third consecutive century in as many ODI matches in the series.

The series is now levelled at 1-1