5 Records that could be broken in 2019

We had a ball of a time in the year 2018 as we testified loads of quality cricket all over the world. The year 2018 threw us into a cricketing bubble which was filled up with exceptional performances across all the departments. Right from witnessing Virat Kohli becoming the fastest human to surpass the five-figure mark in ODI cricket to heeding some close matches, the year 2018 failed to disappoint us as it was never short on entertainment.

All in all, we had the privilege to witness as many as 257 international games in the calendar year 2018. It was Virat Kohli who ruled the batting charts with 2735 runs to his name, and with the ball, it was Jasprit Bumrah (78 wickets) who donned the list of most wickets in the year 2018. As a whole, the Indian team came out on top with a total of 35 wins across all the formats.

Alongside that, plenty of records got dashed in the year 2018. Moreover, quite a few other records got closer on the cusp of breaking. Thus, with all the cricketing action over for the year 2018, we will look at five records that could break in the year 2019.

Note: Stats as on 31st December 2018

---

#5 Most wins as an Indian Test captain

Virat Kohli is set to overtake MS Dhoni as India's most successful Test captain

The Indian cricket team ended the year on a high as they registered a historic win against Australia at iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. The win against Australia happened to be India's first ever win at MCG since 1981. With this win, the Indian captain Virat Kohli equalled Sourav Ganguly's tally of eleven overseas wins which is the most by an Indian Test captain.

Moreover, it also called for Kohli's 26th Test win as an Indian captain, only second to MS Dhoni who stands tall at 27 Test wins as a captain. Thus, having captained India in 45 Tests, Virat looks set to surpass MS Dhoni to become India's most successful captain in the history of Test cricket.

And, in the process, he might overpower Ganguly to register himself India's most successful captain at overseas. Besides, with a minimal difference, surpassing these two captaincy records will not prove to be an arduous task for someone of Kohli's stature.

#4 Most runs in T20I cricket

Virat and Rohit are in the contention for this record

In the year 2019, Martin Guptill will be fighting it out against Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Shoaib Malik to retain the record of most runs in the history of T20I cricket. Guptill, Rohit, Shoaib, and Virat currently stand at 2271, 2237, 2190, and 2167 runs sequentially in T20I cricket.

With T20I series between India and New Zealand up next, only Rohit and Kohli seem to be the apparent villain for the New Zealander's T20I record. However, Malik can be in the contention as well in the latter part of the year 2019. Nonetheless, marking Virat and Rohit's consistency, either of the two Indian batsmen looks set to snatch the record from Guptill in the first place.

Pending the fact that Rohit possesses impressive consistency in T20I cricket and the case that he is an opening batsman, the Mumbaikar is envisioned to take over the record of most T20I runs. Howbeit, it is worthy to note that though Rohit is in line to break the record, the other players are well and truly in the competition including Guptill as well.

Thus, in the course of the next twelve months, we could see fierce competition among these four batsmen with the record changing heads more often than not.

#3 Most centuries as an ODI captain

Ricky Ponting has the most number of ODI centuries as a captain

The legendary Australian captain, Ricky Ponting, currently holds the record of most number of centuries (22) as an ODI captain. At 22 ODI centuries as a captain, Ponting happens to be the only player to score 20 or more ODI tons as the skipper of his national side.

However, Ponting's record happens to be achievable as one player is envisioned to surpass the Australian legend in the year 2019. No brainer, the player is the current Indian captain Virat Kohli. Arguably the best batsman at the moment, Kohli has scored as many as 16 ODI centuries as a captain. Thus, in the year 2019, he will be short of seven ODI tons to dethrone Ponting's record.

Scoring seven ODI centuries in a year calls for an uphill task, but, considering Kohli's caliber as a batsman, this very job seems achievable. In addition to that, India will be playing a decent amount of ODI cricket in the year 2019 which strengthens the argument.

#2 1000 wins for a team in international cricket

Australian set to become

first

team to register a unique record

The year 2018 proved to be a disappointing year for the Australian cricket team as they lost their best players - David Warner and Steve Smith - to the ball-tampering controversy that shook the cricketing world.

The loss created a big void in the Australian team as they struggled considerably in the year 2018. From the ball-tampering saga to the end of the year 2018, Australia played a total of 28 matches and managed to win only seven of them.

However, the year 2019 will bring new fortunes for the team as the Australian duo - Warner and Smith - will be back ahead of the 2019 World Cup.

Moreover, as Australia embark on the journey of 2019, they will be approaching a historical record that no other international team has ever achieved. Standing on 999 international wins, Australia will become the first ever team to surpass 1000 wins in international cricket.

If Australia manage to accomplish the feat in the coming Test against India, they will be making a great start to the year 2019.

#1 Fastest to score 20,000 international runs

Virat Kohli set to break the 13-year old record

A total of 11 players have scored more than 20000 runs in international cricket. However, the fastest players to reach the mark are Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara who did it in 453 innings. Interestingly, Lara (372) took fewer matches than Sachin (402) to achieve the feat.

Nonetheless, after almost 13 years, the record of fastest 20,000 international runs is under scare as Virat Kohli is racing at speed faster than a bullet train to breach the 20000-run mark in international cricket. The current Indian captain has scored 18989 international runs from 398 innings and will be needing 1011 more runs from 52 innings in the year 2019 to break the record.

Let's bring the perspective into the numbers. The Delhite scored 2735 runs from 47 innings in the year 2018. Thus the very task of scoring 1011 runs from 52 innings will not prove to be an arduous one for Kohli in the year 2019 pending his current form.