Virat Kohli in touching distance of yet another milestone

The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli, slammed 82* off just 70 deliveries in the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Dambulla. The innings has brought him within touching distance of becoming the highest run-getter in this calendar year in ODIs. Kohli looks set to achieve the milestone in the ongoing ODI series as he is going great guns with the bat.

Kohli put on a scintillating 197-run partnership with the centurion Shikhar Dhawan and chased down the target of 216 with more than 21 overs to spare. Kohli, along with his team, is enjoying a great run in Sri Lanka where they have not lost a single match.

The skipper is now just 45 runs behind his South African counterpart Faf du Plessis from reaching the top of the list for the batsman with most runs in a calendar year. Though the skipper is placed third for now as he is still behind the England skipper Joe Root, albeit only 16 runs. Once he overtakes both of them, he might hold on to the top position for a while as both England and South Africa are not playing ODI cricket soon.

Kohli averages better than Root and Du Plessis

Virat currently averages much better than both Root and Du Plessis. The South African has scored 814 runs in 16 matches at an average of 58.1 and Root has accumulated 785 runs in 14 matches at a more impressive average of 71.3. On the other hand, Kohli leaves them way behind in the race of averages. The Indian stalwart has smashed 769 runs in 14 games at an astounding average 96.1.

Kohli can easily get past them in the ongoing ODI series and would surely score more runs if he continues in the same vein of form. England will play their ODI series against West Indies starting from September 15 whereas Proteas are not scheduled to play any limited-overs series until October 15.

India, apart from the ongoing series in Sri Lanka, have another big home season in which they are scheduled to play 11 ODIs until December. This means that Kohli has a golden chance of even going past 1000-run mark in the calendar year.