At the 2023 ICC Men's World Cup, Virat Kohli broke Sachin Tendulkar's 20-year-old record for scoring the most runs in a single tournament. Kohli accumulated 765 runs in 11 innings, finishing with an average of just over 69.
There's still one major record of Tendulkar's that Kohli has not yet broken. Sachin ended his career with 18,426 one-day international (ODI) runs scored in 452 innings, during a glittering career spanning 23 years. Kohli is currently third in the rankings of most ODI runs scored, with 13,906 runs in just 283 innings. His batting average is currently far superior to Tendulkar's at 58.18 compared with Sachin's 44.83.
Kohli scores at a much more impressive strike rate too, standing at 93.54 compared with Tendulkar's 86.23. All of which begs the question as to whether the 35-year-old has a realistic chance of surpassing Tendulkar's record. Kohli is currently 4,520 runs short of equalling Tendulkar's record. With an ODI batting average of 58.18 per innings, this means Kohli would realistically need to play another 80 ODI games to give himself a chance. It also relies heavily on Kohli maintaining his current average, which is never easy the older a batter gets.
As of August 2024, Kohli has batted in 283 ODI innings in a 16-year-long career to date. This means he's batted 17-18 times a year for India in ODIs. This means Kohli will need to maintain his current trajectory until his 40th birthday at the very least. It feels a tall order, but there's no doubt that Kohli has the mentality and the game to achieve it. If he does manage to surpass Tendulkar's ODI runs record inside 80 more innings, Kohli would have done so playing almost 90 matches fewer than "The Little Master".
This autumn, India have a brief Test series with Bangladesh, followed by a few T20 internationals. They also host New Zealand in a three-match Test series prior to flying Down Under to face Australia in a gruelling five-Test series.
It's not until the New Year when ODIs are back on the agenda for India and Kohli. They face England in a trio of day-night ODI contests in early February, which will likely act as warm-up games for the ICC Champions Trophy which begins on 19th February 2025.
India are currently the favourites to lift the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan. The best cricket odds available for them to win in 2025 outright are 2/1, with Australia (7/2) and England (15/4) second and third favourites respectively. Hosts, Pakistan, aren't expected to trouble the closing stages of the tournament. They are priced as 8/1 fifth favourites, despite playing in front of home crowds and on home pitches. In fact, Pakistan are the current defending champions of the ICC Champions Trophy, demonstrating how the country's ODI team has slipped in recent years.
The ICC Champions Trophy returns to the international cricket calendar following an eight-year hiatus. The International Cricket Council opted to scrap the tournament after the last one in 2017, preferring to stick with one event per format, since some said the Champions Trophy was merely a poor relation to the ICC World Cup.
However, the reality is that the Champions Trophy offers a different feel to the World Cup, since there's no room for plucky underdogs in this tournament. It's an invitation-only event featuring the top right ranked ODI nations.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been granted substantial funds from the ICC to upgrade its stadia to international standards in term for February's tournament. In fact, the PCB is also in negotiations regarding the construction of a brand new "high-tech" cricket arena located in Islamabad, which will act as one of the competition's main hubs.
