Virat Kohli can’t be stopped in ODI cricket. The 37-year-old had mastered the format years ago, but his unreal domination for someone at the fag end of their career at 37 is just mind-boggling. You’d think he’d be slowing down by now. His contemporary and fellow teammate, Rohit Sharma, has shown the fragility of age and is retiring from two formats.
Rohit has been struggling. He isn’t racking in heaps of runs and struggling to score quickly. His intent has been questioned, and returning to international cricket hasn’t been the easiest. This was evident in the India vs England 2nd ODI in Cardiff. In stark contrast, Kohli has actually taken his game to the next level since retiring from Test cricket in May 2025.
Virat Kohli’s unreal consistency
Kohli’s strike rate in 2026 is 103.33. The highest in his ODI career. It isn’t as if his average has plummeted as he looks to attack more. He averages 62 this year and 64.06 since January 2025. It’s upgraded his game. One could see he takes on the bowler more in his first 10 balls and doesn’t go into autopilot mode during the middle overs.
When the opportunity arises to attack, he takes it. In fact, that brought his downfall at Sophie Gardens as he attacked Jofra Archer when well set at 65 (66) on the very next delivery after escaping from a caught-behind dismissal due to the ball bouncing ahead of Jos Buttler.
In a time when Rohit battles self-doubt, fears about getting the axe from the management, and people worry about his fitness, Kohli hasn’t just remained successful like before. He’s one-upped himself. No one thought that was possible. In some ways, he was already the most complete ODI batter. But now, he’s ready to attack more.
It’s not like he doesn’t want to finish games on his own anymore, but for the greater good of the team, Kohli takes the onus to attack far more than he ever did. These knocks aren’t just coming in India. It was Australia last year and England now. The runs keep coming and will continue as the ODI World Cup 2027 approaches.
Most runs for India in ODIs since 2025
| Batter | Innings | Runs | Highest Score | Average | Strike Rate | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shubman Gill | 18 | 974 | 154 | 64.93 | 99.89 | 3 | 6 |
| Virat Kohli | 18 | 961 | 135 | 64.06 | 98.36 | 4 | 6 |
| Rohit Sharma | 22 | 891 | 121* | 42.42 | 96.95 | 2 | 5 |
| Shreyas Iyer | 18 | 692 | 79 | 43.25 | 88.94 | 0 | 5 |
| KL Rahul | 17 | 549 | 112* | 54.90 | 113.9 | 1 | 2 |
Cricket
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