5 Milestones Indian Players Can Achieve In 2019

The year 2019 will be an important one for Team India with so many challenging task lined up. At the start of the year, the team will be in Australia for their full-fledged series. India will play three T20Is, four Tests and three ODIs in Australia. After that, Virat Kohli & Co. will fly out to New Zealand for a limited-overs series. The tour will consist of 5 ODIs and three T20Is. Following that India and Australia will renew their rivalry again in ODIs, this time in the subcontinent. It will be followed by the all important World Cup in England.

So before the upcoming years gets underway, we take a look at the records and the milestones the Indian players can achieve:

5. MS Dhoni set to enter 10,000-run club:

The former India skipper will be next seen in action in international arena during the ODI series against Australia. And during the series, he will have the chance to add yet another feather to his already illustrious cap. While MS Dhoni has already breached the 10,000-run mark in ODIs, he is yet to do it for India alone. From the 10173 runs that Dhoni has scored in ODIs, 174 have come for Asia-XI in a three-match series against Africa XI in 2007. As a result, the World Cup-winning skipper is just one run short of becoming the fifth player to score 10,000 runs for India in ODIs.

4. Shikhar Dhawan close to 5,000-run mark in ODIs:

The last ODI assignment for India did not go well for Dhawan. The southpaw struggled to get going against the Windies at home. Well, he will have a chance to make amends when India tour Australia. Prior to that, he will be playing the T20I series. And  the Gabbar of Indian cricket will be looking to achieve a major milestone in his career when the 50-over format series gets underway.  He is just 65 runs away from the 5000-run mark in ODI cricket. If he achieves it in Australia, he will become the 15th Indian to do so. If he manages to do it in the very first ODI he plays now, he will become the fourth fastest player and second-fastest Indian to breach the 5000-run mark. The fastest Indian to score 5000 runs is Virat Kohli who did it in 114 innings.

3.  Mohammed Shami on cusp of creating record:

Unlike the Tests, Mohammed Shami has fallen down the pecking order in ODIs and T20Is. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and now Umesh Yadav and Khaleel Ahmed have made it tough for Shami to cement his place in the limited-overs squad. Well, if he gets the chances in the near future, he can register in the record books. Shami is just six wickets short of the three-figure mark in ODI cricket. And he can also become the fastest Indian to take 100 ODI wickets. If Shami manages to take the six wickets in the next seven innings, he will become the fastest-ever Indian to achieve the feat of 100 ODI wickets.

2. Virat Kohli close to 50 fifties in ODIs:

While the world is keenly anticipating whether Virat Kohli will be able to score 50 centuries or not in ODIs, he will have the chance to score 50 fifties in this format. So far, the India skipper, who has scored 38 tons in ODIs, has amassed 48 fifties in this format.  Scoring two more fifties will make him only the seventh Indian to achieve this feat. The other six Indians to feature in the list are Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni, Mohammad Azharuddin, and Yuvraj Singh.  

1.  Virat Kohli close to 20,000 international runs:

There is absolutely no stopping Virat Kohli at the moment. No matter what the format is, what the venue is or what the condition is, the India skipper rarely disappoints. The right-handed batsman is redefining consistency with his stunning exploits on the field. Not surprisingly, he is breaking and creating records with almost every outing of his. Kohli recently crossed the five-figure mark in ODI cricket during the series against Windies. He also became the fastest batsman to amass 10000 runs in ODI cricket. And the 30-year old will be keen to continue batting in the same manner in the upcoming year. Well, he will also have opportunity to achieve several milestones and one of them is breaching the 20,000-run mark in international cricket. So far, he has scored 18,665 runs for India and needs 1,335 runs to achieve the feat.  If he manages to achieve it in the next 62 innings, he will become the fastest to do so.