Virat Kohli Becomes First-Ever Indian Player To Achieve This Incredible Milestone After Scoring Fifty In World Cup Final

Virat Kohli, on Sunday (November 19), added yet another feather to his already illustrious cap as he scored yet another half-century in the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.

The right-handed batsman had to walk out to bat very early in the innings as Mitchell Starc dismissed Shubman Gill for just 4 runs. Virat Kohli once again weathered the storm and ensured that the team recovered quickly. Although he lost two partners at the other end, he went on to compile another fighting fifty.

Unfortunately, he could not convert his fifty into a century against Australia and was dismissed for 54 by Pat Cummins. It was a short delivery from the Australia captain and Kohli ended up guiding the ball onto the stumps while trying to defend it with an angled bat. His 54-run knock came off 63 balls and contained 4 fours.

Another record for Virat Kohli:

The half-century in the World Cup final against Australia helped Virat Kohli create history. He became the first-ever Indian player to score a 50-plus score in the semifinals as well as the final of the World Cup. In the semifinal against New Zealand, he had scored a brilliant century to help India win the game by 70 runs. It was also his 50th ODI ton as he broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most ODI tons.

Overall, Virat Kohli became the seventh player to achieve the feat of scoring a 50-plus score in the semifinal as well as final of the World Cup. The first player to do this was Mike Brearley who did it in 1979. The other five players are – David Boon, Javed Miandad, Aravinda de Silva, Grant Elliott and Steve Smith.

The former India skipper now also has most runs scored in ICC finals. The record was previously held by Kumar Sangakkara who scored 320 runs in World Cup finals. Earlier in the competition, the right-handed batsman also broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record of scoring most runs in a single edition of the World Cup. He has finished his campaign with 765 runs from 11 games.