Indian batting legend Virat Kohli continues smashing records despite retirement from T20Is and recently Tests, as the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday updated his maximum T20I rating points to 909 points, making him the only batter in sports history to cross the 900-point mark in ICC Men’s Cricket Rankings across all formats of the game.
On Wednesday, Virat, who had retired from T20Is following a title-sealing 76 during the final of the ICC T20 World Cup last year, got an upgrade in his T20I rating. His all-time T20I rating was updated by the ICC from 897 to 909, as per Wisden. This is the third-highest rating points attained by a batter in the ICC Men’s T20I Rankings, behind Suryakumar Yadav (912) and England’s Dawid Malan (919), who have had their reigns at the top of the ranking charts.
Virat’s highest rating points in the ICC Men’s Test Rankings are 937, the highest for an Indian batter and overall 11th-highest of all time. He achieved this way back in 2018 during the tour to England, where he slammed 593 runs in 10 innings with two centuries and three fifties and was the lone-warrior for India in an otherwise poor series for the batters.
In ODIs, Virat’s rating points peaked at 909 as well during the tour to England back in 2018, during which he scored 191 runs in three ODIs, including two half-centuries.
At the peak of his success, Virat was once rated as the number one batter in ICC Men’s Test, ODI and T20I Rankings simultaneously.
With this latest feat, Virat has made another strong statement supporting an argument that he could be the best all-format batter of all time.
Virat retired from T20Is with 4,188 runs to his name in 125 matches and innings at an average of 48.69, with a century and 25 fifties. His best score is 122*. He is the third-highest run-getter in the format’s history.
In May this year, Virat announced his retirement from Test cricket ahead of the new ICC World Test Championship (WTC) cycle starting with the ongoing tour to England following a disastrous tour to Australia, where he could manage just 190 runs in nine innings across five matches at an average of 23.75, with a century at Perth being his notable contribution.
He retired as India’s fourth-highest Test run-getter and is overall the 19th-highest in the all-time list, with 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, with 30 centuries and 31 fifties. His best score is 254*.
Virat is still active in ODIs though, scoring 14,181 runs in 302 matches and 290 innings at an average of 57.88, with 51 centuries and 74 fifties. His best score is 183. He is the third-highest run-getter of all time in ODIs and second-highest for India. His last ODI assignment was the ICC Champions Trophy-winning campaign back in March, during which he scored 218 runs in five matches, with a century against Pakistan and a half-century against Australia in the semifinals being the highlights.
Across all formats, Virat has scored 27,599 runs at an average of 52.27, with 82 centuries and 143 fifties in 617 innings and a best score of 254*. He is India’s second-highest international run-getter ever and overall third-highest. (ANI)
