Indian cricket legend Virat Kohli will return to action after more than a month when he takes the field for the Men in Blue against Sri Lanka in the first ODI on Friday (August 2) at the iconic 3 Premdasa Stadium in Colombo. This will be the first time Kohli plays a competitive cricket match since the 2024 T20 World Cup final victory over South Africa and his maiden outing in ODIs since the Cricket World Cup 2023 final to Australia.
Kohli will have eyes on a massive Sachin Tendulkar world record during the three-match ODI series just months after breaking his record of most centuries in ODI cricket with his 50th ODI ton against New Zealand. The 35-year-old needs just 152 runs in the series against Sri Lanka to break a record set by the ‘God of Cricket’ 18 years ago.
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With a tally of 13,848 runs to his name in the format, Kohli is omn the cusp of becoming only the 3rd player in the history to reach 14,000 ODI runs after Tendulkar, and former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara.
Kohli is set to create history and be the fastest to reach the milestone as he has played just 280 innings in the format. Tendulkar holds the record (350) since he became the first to reach the milestone in an ODI against Pakistan in Peshwar in 2006. Sangakkara completed 14000 ODI runs in 378 ODI innings during the 2015 World Cup.
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Fastest to 14000 ODI Runs
| Player | Innings Taken to 14000 ODI Runs | Year |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 350 | 2006 |
| Kumar Sangakkara | 378 | 2015 |
Kohli is the third-highest run-getter in ODI cricket history with 13848 runs in 292 matches at a stunning average of 58.67 with a record 50 centuries to his name. Kohli made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in August 2008 and has established himself as arguably the greatest number three in the history of the format.
