'King Kohli' enters 50-overs GOAT debate at run-laden World Cup

AHMEDABAD, India : Virat Kohli has long been on the cusp of batting greatness and at 35 years old he is making a solid case to be considered the greatest 50-overs player of all time after a run-laden World Cup campaign on home soil.

Sachin Tendulkar was the game's premier batsman until he retired in 2013, and Kohli has inherited that mantle from his compatriot, dominating the game for long stretches in the past decade.

Initially, Kohli was part of batting's "Fab Four" alongside England's Joe Root, Australia's Steve Smith and New Zealand's Kane Williamson.

While others have faded somewhat recently, Kohli has been burning brightly, and pulling ahead of his peers.

From 2011 to 2019, Kohli scored more than 1,000 ODI runs a year seven times before going nearly three years without a hundred in international cricket.

The elegant right-hander ended that drought in September last year and has been at his prolific best at the current World Cup, where he is the runaway top-scorer with 711 runs from 10 matches including three centuries.

He overtook Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI hundreds in Mumbai on Wednesday and it was only fitting that his idol was present at the Wankhede Stadium to see it.

"I couldn't be happier that an Indian broke my record," Tendulkar wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, to congratulate his protege.

"And to do it on the biggest stage - in the World Cup Semi-final - and at my home ground is the icing on the cake."

The pace at which Kohli broke Tendulkar's record also stands out, achieving his 50th ODI ton in 279 innings to his predecessor's 49 in 452 innings.

Kohli seems immune to the pressure that other batters feel while chasing, and 27 of his 50 hundreds have come batting second.

RICHARDS COMPARISONS

His dominance has