Virat Kohli's 2500 runs and three more World records broken in February

Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli in IPL
Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli in IPL

The cricketing world has seen a number of records break in the month of February 2019. Most of the records broken belonged to the batsmen. The teams are easily scoring over 350 runs in ODI cricket. In the recent ODI series between England and West Indies, the visitors chased down over 350 runs convincingly. In the fourth ODI, England posted a 400+ total for the fourth time since the 2015 World Cup.

In reply, the West Indies almost chased down the score and lost by just 29 runs, thanks to a ruthless inning from Gayle. When it comes to T20I cricket, the results have been even more entertaining. Afghanistan is currently playing against Ireland. In the recently concluded T20I series, they amassed over 250 runs. In the process, they broke numerous records.

Let's have a look at the four world records broken in the month of February.

#4. Afghanistan 278/3 - Highest ever total in T20 history:

Afghanistan posted World record 278/3 vs Ireland
Afghanistan posted World record 278/3 vs Ireland

The recently concluded T20I series between Afghanistan and Ireland proved to be quite the buzz maker for the Afghans. The second T20I between these two was held in Uttarakhand. Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first.

Openers Hazratullah Zazai and Usman Ghani were off to a flying start. The had a 236 run-partnership for the first wicket and broke the record for the highest ever partnership in T20 history. Zazai made an unbeaten 162 runs in 62 balls, which has been the second highest score in T20 history. He smashed 16 sixes in his innings, which is the most number of sixes hit by anyone in a T20I inning. Afghanistan ended the innings at 278/3, which is the highest ever score in the shortest format of the game.

#3. England- Most sixes in an ODI inning (24):

Jos Buttler
Jos Buttler

The first ODI between West Indies and England was held last week. Chris Gayle made his return to the side after hinting at retirement after the World Cup. The flamboyant left-hander scored only 10 singles in the first 10 overs. After that, he went berserk and smashed about four to five balls out of the ground.

The left-hander completed his 24th ODI century, which included 12 mountainous sixes. During the innings, the Windies broke the record of smashing the most number of sixes in an innings with 23 sixes. But the record stayed in the Caribbean camp only for a week.

England returned the favor during the fourth ODI. The visitors pounced onto the opportunity when they were asked to bat first, and made the most out of it. During their innings, they smashed 24 sixes, and thus broke the record for the most number of sixes in an ODI inning.

Jos Buttler scored a match-winning 150, which included 12 sixes. In reply, the Windies almost chased down the score with Gayle's brilliance. The Windies smashed 22 sixes while chasing. This six hitting fest between the two teams led to the game breaking a record of its own, with 46 sixes as the most sixes hit in an ODI match.

#2. Virat Kohli - 2500 runs on a single ground:

Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli

Indian captain Virat Kohli has been in prolific form since the start of 2019. He is the only cricketer to average 50+ across all the three formats at present. During the second T20I against Australia, he scored 72 runs off of 38 balls, which included two fours and six sixes. It is not often that you see Kohli hitting more sixes than fours in an innings.

We witnessed a different Kohli that day. It was a player playing on his favorite ground - the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru. It is a familiar place for the RCB captain, as he has played most of his IPL games at this ground. During the innings against the Aussies, he became the first cricketer to score over 2500 T20 runs in a single ground, including three centuries. These are incredible numbers.

Among the Indians, only Kohli has scored more than 2000 T20 runs at a ground. The second best is the Indian vice-captain Rohit Sharma, who has 1699 runs at the Wankhede stadium. Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir take the third place with 1462 runs at Eden Gardens.

#1. Chris Gayle- First cricketer to 500 sixes

Chris Gayle
Chris Gayle

The West Indian legend broke Shahid Afridi's record of the most number of international sixes in international cricket with 477 sixes, and it took him just three more ODIs to hit 23 more sixes to become the first ever cricketer to smash 500 sixes in international cricket.

Gayle is known for his six hitting ability and he can clear the boundary with relative ease. It was evident in the ongoing ODI series against England. The left-hander smashed two centuries and one half-century in the series.

He also smashed over 25 sixes, which is the most by any cricketer in a bilateral ODI series. The previous record was held by Rohit Sharma, with 23 sixes against Australia in 2013. The T20 superstar also became the first cricketer to smash 100 sixes against an opponent in international cricket, during the first ODI against England.

He is the only cricketer to have smashed 10 or more sixes in an ODI inning four times. No one else has ever done this thrice, which sums up the power of Gayle.

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Edited by Zaid Khan