T20 World Cup 2022: Virat Kohli on threshold of smashing Sachin Tendulkar's ICC record

Former India captain Virat Kohli is on the verge of breaking yet another record of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar in the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Australia. Kohli is just one half-century away from breaking Tendulkar's record of most fifty-plus scores in the history of the ICC limited overs tournament. The 33-year-old currently has 23 half-centuries in ICC white-ball tournaments, which is equal to Tendulkar's record. 

If Kohli scores a fifty in the ongoing T20 World Cup, he will surpass Tendulkar to become the player with the most half-centuries in the history of the ICC multi-nation limited-overs tournament. Kohli will get the opportunity to break Tendulkar's record on Sunday, October 23, during India's opening match of the T20 World Cup 2022 against arch-rivals Pakistan. Kohli boasts a great record against the Men in Green as he has scored several fifty-plus scores against the side in multiple ICC events over the years.

Kohli has already broken several records previously held by Tendulkar, including the fastest to score 23,000 international runs. Kohli reached the milestone in his 490th innings, beating Tendulkar's record by 32 innings. Earlier this year, Kohli scored his 71st international century to go past former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting in the list of players with the most international hundreds to their name. Kohli now only stands behind Tendulkar's tally of 100 international centuries. 

Kohli's return to form

After a lean patch for more than three years, Kohli roared back to form during the recently-concluded Asia Cup. The right-handed batter finished the tournament as the second-highest run-scorer after Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan. Kohli is expected to do well in the ongoing T20 World Cup in Australia, which has always been his bastion outside of India. Kohli has scored the most runs in Australia as a non-Australian batter in limited-overs cricket.  

India will play its opening game of the ongoing T20 World Cup against Pakistan on Sunday. The match is scheduled to take place at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) with over 1,00,000 spectators expected to be in attendance.  

India squad for ICC T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami. Backups: Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur. 

Image: PTI