IND vs AUS 2023: 3 milestones that Virat Kohli can reach in the upcoming ODI series

Following India's 2-1 win in the recently concluded four-game Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 against Australia, both teams are set to lock horns for a three-match ODI series. The opening match of the series is scheduled to be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday, March 17.

One of the key players for India heading into the series would be none other than Virat Kohli. In the absence of Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, and Rohit Sharma (only for the first ODI), Kohli will have a huge role to play as far as India's top-order is concerned.

Fortunately for the hosts, the Delhi lad has been in top-notch form off late. Following his resurgence at the T20 World Cup 2022, Kohli has showcased his brilliance in the ODI format, amassing 338 runs at an average of 67.6 across six innings so far this year.

The former Indian skipper also translated his white-ball form into red-ball as he finished the Test series against Australia as India's highest run-getter with 297 runs at an average of 49.5.

Kohli would certainly love to talk with his bat and dish out another great performance for India leading up to the main ODI World Cup later this year.

The upcoming ODI series against Australia will also offer Virat Kohli a chance to break multiple individual records as well. Let's take three of those.

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#3 Second-most Man of the Match awards against Australia

Virat Kohli receiving Man of the Match award after the 4th Test vs Australia [Pic Credit: BCCI]

Virat Kohli performed admirably well in the final Border-Gavaskar Test match in Ahmedabad, where he scored a superlative 186-run knock. Due to his batting exploits, he received his ninth Man of the Match (MOTM) award against Australia (across all formats).

If Kohli bags at least one more MOTM award in the upcoming ODI series, he will have the joint-second-most 'Player of the Match' awards against Australia.

While Sachin Tendulkar's 17 MOTM awards against the Aussie unit might be an onerous task to surpass, Kohli could certainly join the likes of Sir Viv Richards and Ian Botham, who both received 10 MOTM awards against Australia during their careers.

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#2 Most ODI hundreds against Australia

Australia v India - ODI: Game 2

Kohli recently hit his 75th international cricket century a few days ago. Out of his 75 international tons, 16 have come against Australia.

As far as ODIs are concerned, Kohli has clobbered eight hundreds against the Kangaroos in the fifty-over format. Another century in the upcoming series would mean Kohli equals Sachin Tendulkar's record of hitting the highest number of ODI hundreds vs. Australia.

Tendulkar hit nine ODI tons against them during his career and Kohli will undoubtedly look to equal or even surpass his master's record.

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#1 Kohli could complete 13,000 runs in ODI cricket

Virat Kohli has scored 46 ODI centuries for India [BCCI]

Another stellar individual record that can easily be shattered by the modern-day legend is mustering as many as 13,000 runs in one-day internationals for India.

With a total of 12,809 runs in ODIs in just 262 innings, Kohli is on the verge of becoming only the second Indian and fifth overall to score 13,000 ODI runs. He needs 191 runs to reach the landmark.

Moreover, if he manages to score those 191 runs in the series, which in all probability might prove to be tricky to get, Kohli will become the fastest ever to breach the 13,000-run barrier. Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar currently holds the record, smashing his 13,000 ODI runs in 321 innings.