New Delhi: Virat Kohli has equalled Mohammad Azharuddin’s mark for most catches in ODIs for India in their Champions Trophy opening game against Bangladesh in Dubai on Thursday.
Kohli took his 156th catch, covering a fair distance on the long-on fence to dismiss Jaker Ali for 68 (114 balls) off the bowling of Mohammed Shami.
In the process, Kohli matched former India skipper Azharuddin’s feat on his 298th game. Azharuddin took 334 games for his 156 catches. Sachin Tendulkar is third on the list with 140 catches.
Former Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene leads the all-time list with 218 catches in 448 games at 0.49 catches per innings, followed by Australian Ricky Ponting, who took 160 catches in 375 matches, at an average of 0.43 per innings.
Kohli is now third on the list with 156 catches at an average of 0.523 per innings, ahead of Azharuddin at 0.469 per innings.
Shami sets mark
With the wicket of Ali, Shami became the quickest to claim 200 ODI wickets by an Indian bowler. The right armer has returned to the Indian team after an absence of over a year with an ankle injury that required surgery.
The 34-year-old took three wickets to reach the landmark in his 103rd ODI innings, to overtake Ajit Agarkar’s mark of 133 innings. He also became the second fastets to 200 ODI wickets, only behind Australia’s Mitchell Starc (102 innings).
Shami also became India’s most successful bowler in ICC’s white-ball tournaments. He has taken 74 wickets – 55 in 18 ODI World Cup matches, 14 in 14 T20 World Cup games and four wickets in one Champions Trophy match so far, to go ahead Zaheer Khan’s 71 wickets (44 in 23 ODI World Cup matches, 15 in nine CT games and 12 in 12 T20 World Cup outings).
Shami took 5/53 to be the only second Indian bowler to take five-wickets hauls in CT and ODI World Cup after team-mate Ravindra Jadeja.
Quickest to reach 200 wickets in ODIs
1) Mitchell Starc (AUS) – 102 innings
2) Mohammed Shami (IND) – 103 innings
3) Saqlain Mushtaq (PAK) – 104 innings
4) Trent Boult (NZ) – 107 innings
5) Brett Lee (AUS) – 112 innings
Most ODI catches as fielder for India
156 Mohd Azharuddin
156 Virat Kohli *
140 Sachin Tendulkar
124 Rahul Dravid
102 Suresh Raina
* – Active player
Virat Kohli took his 156th catch, to dismiss Jaker Ali off the bowling of Mohammed Shami in India’s Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh in Dubai on Thursday. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
