Kohli has amassed 8,063 runs from 159 innings while chasing in ODIs.
Senior batter Virat Kohli rose to the occasion during India’s Champions Trophy 2025 semi-final win over Australia on Tuesday. He scored 84 runs off 98 balls, helping India chase down the target of 265.
During his knock, Kohli became only the second batter after Sachin Tendulkar to score 8,000 runs or more while chasing in ODIs. Former Pakistan cricketer Wasim Akram was all praise for the Delhi cricketer and even predicted that he could break Tendulkar’s record. Tendulkar has scored 8,720 runs from 232 innings while chasing, while Kohli has amassed 8,063 runs from 159 innings in terms of the same.
“Look at these all names with the highest run chasers. Sachin, Rohit, Jayasuriya and Kallis. There are the greats of the game and Kohli is definitely going to pass Sachin Tendulkar the way it looks like. Kohli’s average is only second to MS Dhoni. Dhoni got close to 100 and Kohli’s average is close to 90. That’s just phenomenal,” Akram said on The Pavilion Sow on Ten Sports.
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Australia were 198/4 at one stage and looked as if they would get to 300. However, the dismissals of Steve Smith (73) and Glenn Maxwell (7) in successive overs hurt their momentum. In terms of bowling, Australia were missing Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood due to injuries, whereas Mitchell Starc had opted out of the tournament due to personal reasons.
“If they are not here, it’s not a valid point to discuss their absence. But then they are the leading bowlers of the cricketing world. Josh Hazelwood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins could not come, two were injured and one did not come due to personal reasons. But Australia did not help their cause. Like Steve Smith said, if the score was 290-300, then they would have got a chance. These two wickets of Smith and Maxwell made them score a below-par score,” Akram said.
The winner of the ongoing second semi-final between South Africa and New Zealand will face India in Sunday’s final in Dubai.
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