India batter Shreyas Iyer reserved special praise for Virat Kohli after the latter achieved two major milestones with his brilliant 93-run knock in the first ODI against New Zealand on Sunday. The Men in Blue clinched a four-wicket win against the Kiwis to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Kohli entered the match needing just 25 runs to reach 28,000 international runs and achieved the landmark in the 13th over of India’s chase, becoming the fastest cricketer to reach the milestone, achieving it in just 624 innings, 20 fewer than legendary Sachin Tendulkar, who held the world record before the 37-year-old broke it.
Kohli’s innings also saw him surpass Kumar Sangakkara to become the all-time second-highest run-scorer in international cricket history, moving past the Sri Lankan great’s tally of 28,016 runs. Tendulkar remains at the top with 34,357 international runs.
Speaking of his milestones and his calm knock against the BlackCaps, Iyer, in a video shared by the BCCI, said, “Whatever we talk about his innings, it would be less. We've been seeing it for so many years now. He's been doing it consistently. The way he rotates the strike, he takes on the bowler.
He basically walks the talk.” Iyer also delivered a pivotal performance in his comeback game after recovering from the spleen injury he sustained during India’s tour of Australia in October last year. Appointed vice-captain for the series, the middle-order batter teamed up with Kohli to form a 77-run partnership and scored 49 runs off 47 balls, narrowly missing a well-deserved half-century.
“Great momentum, great start for the series, especially. Me coming back, after a while, into the team. It feels great to be part of the squad. But more than that, it was a great feeling to stay in the dressing room with each and every one. I was missing it for quite a while, but I'm happy to be back,” Iyer said of his outing.