Virat Kohli walked out at 74 for 1 in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday needing 59 runs to become only the second batter to reach 15,000 ODI runs. He walked back unbeaten on 139 off 88 balls, with 10 fours and nine sixes, and India had chased down 296 against West Indies with 50 balls to spare.
The Virat Kohli 15,000 ODI runs milestone would have been the headline in any other week. Here it sat inside an innings that also brought a 55th ODI hundred, a career-best count of sixes and a 74-ball century, the third-fastest of his career. The Chase Master had done it again.
It did not look that easy early on. Justin Greaves and John Campbell put on 135 for the first wicket after India chose to field, and West Indies were heading for a very big score until Kuldeep Yadav turned the innings. What followed was a chase built on the strokeplay of King Kohli and a century from captain Shubman Gill.
Match snapshot: India vs West Indies, 1st ODI
Scorecard details
- Venue and date: Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram, Sunday, 27 September 2026 (day-night)
- Toss: India elected to field
- West Indies: 295/7 in 50 overs (Justin Greaves 101, John Campbell 62, Amir Jangoo 58*; Kuldeep Yadav 4/40, Prasidh Krishna 2/60)
- India: 300/2 in 41.4 overs (Virat Kohli 139*, Shubman Gill 110)
- Result: India won by eight wickets with 50 balls remaining and lead the three-match series 1-0
- Player of the Match: Kuldeep Yadav (4/40)
Virat Kohli 15000 ODI runs: fastest ever, 74 innings ahead of Tendulkar
Virat Kohli reached the landmark in his 303rd innings. Tendulkar needed 377. That is 74 innings faster, and the gap holds by balls faced too: 15,950 deliveries for Kohli against 17,528 for Tendulkar. In fairness, ESPNcricinfo also notes that Tendulkar got there 212 days sooner after his debut.
Only Tendulkar, with 18,426 runs, stands above Kohli among ODI run-scorers. Kohli’s career tally now reads 15,080, which means he began the day on 14,941 and needed 59 for the mark.
The last thousand runs show how he got here. As per ICC, it took him 16 innings to go from 14,000 to 15,000, with 11 scores of fifty or more, five of them hundreds, at a strike rate of 107.93. That is the highest of any block of 1,000 runs in his ODI career. At 37, he is scoring quicker than at any earlier stage.
A 74-ball hundred: third-fastest of his ODI career
Kohli reached his fifty in 40 balls and his hundred in 74, raising it with a six over Gudakesh Motie. Outlook India’s ranking of his quickest ODI centuries places it third, behind only the 52-ball hundred against Australia in Jaipur in 2013 and the 61-ball effort against Australia in Nagpur the same year.
The unbeaten 139 was Kohli’s 55th ODI hundred, stretching a record he already held, and his 86th in international cricket.
The acceleration after three figures was sharper still. He took 39 runs off the last 14 balls he faced and finished with a strike rate of 157.95.
Nine sixes: a career-best power show
Ten fours and nine sixes meant 94 of Kohli’s 139 runs came in boundaries. Nine is the most sixes he has hit in an ODI innings, according to Outlook India. His previous best was eight against Sri Lanka at this same ground in 2023, and he had hit seven twice, against Australia in Jaipur in 2013 and South Africa in Ranchi in 2025.
Thiruvananthapuram keeps bringing out his best. ESPNcricinfo’s stats show Kohli has made 338 runs in three ODI innings at this venue without being dismissed once, the highest for any batter without a dismissal at a single ground.
First player to 7,000 ODI runs in one country
ESPNcricinfo’s records show Kohli now has 7,006 ODI runs in India. He is the first player to cross 7,000 in any single country, going past Tendulkar’s 6,976 runs in India.
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Ten hundreds each against West Indies and Sri Lanka
Sunday’s century was Kohli’s tenth ODI hundred against West Indies, matching the ten he has against Sri Lanka. ESPNcricinfo lists ten as the joint-most by any batter against one opponent, and Outlook India points out that Kohli is the only batter with double-digit ODI hundreds against two different teams. No one else has reached ten against even one: Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma have nine each against Australia.
How India chased 296
Kuldeep had set the game up. Greaves made 101 off 108 balls, his maiden ODI hundred, and Campbell scored 62 as West Indies reached 135 without loss in 19.2 overs. Kuldeep broke the stand by removing Campbell and dismissed Greaves soon after his century. He also took Jewel Andrew first ball as West Indies slid from 176 for 1 to 198 for 5. Amir Jangoo’s unbeaten 58 off 43 balls still carried them to 295 for 7.
In reply, Rohit Sharma and Gill added 74 before Rohit fell in the 12th over. Kohli came in at No. 3 and took charge. He and Gill added 151 in 132 balls. Gill made 110 off 108 balls, with 13 fours and a six, for his tenth ODI hundred, and was dismissed by Roston Chase with India on 225. Kohli then added an unbeaten 75 with Ruturaj Gaikwad, who made 13 off 19, and India finished on 300 for 2 in 41.4 overs.
Outlook India’s match report described Kohli’s method as the one he has used in ODI chases for years: run hard between the wickets, then unfurl the big shots. Kuldeep, the Player of the Match for his 4/40, admitted afterwards that he felt awkward collecting the award ahead of Kohli.
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Legacy and the road to the 2027 World Cup
Kohli told JioStar on Saturday, a day before this innings, that the 2027 ODI World Cup will be his last for India, and that leaving everything on the field to win the trophy is what drives him, as reported by Al Jazeera. The tournament will be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia in October and November 2027. It will be his fifth World Cup: champion at home in 2011, beaten finalist in 2023.
He has already retired from T20 Internationals, after India’s T20 World Cup win in 2024, and from Tests, in May 2025. ODIs are the only format he still plays for India, and on this evidence he is making every innings count.
Tendulkar’s 18,426 ODI runs remain the summit. Yet Kohli already holds the record for most ODI hundreds, and the Virat Kohli 15,000 ODI runs milestone, reached 74 innings sooner than Tendulkar, now sits beside the first 7,000 in a single country on that list. With a year to go before the World Cup, India have a batter who is scoring quicker than at any earlier point in his ODI career. King Kohli has one tournament left, and he has said the goal is to win it.
FAQs
How many runs did Virat Kohli score against West Indies in the 1st ODI?
He scored 139 not out off 88 balls, with 10 fours and nine sixes, as India chased 296 in 41.4 overs.
What is the Virat Kohli 15,000 ODI runs record?
Kohli reached 15,000 ODI runs in 303 innings, according to ESPNcricinfo. Sachin Tendulkar needed 377, so Kohli got there 74 innings sooner.
Is Kohli the only player with 7,000 ODI runs in one country?
Yes, he is the first to reach that mark. ESPNcricinfo’s records show 7,006 runs in India for Kohli, ahead of Tendulkar’s 6,976.
Who was Player of the Match in the India vs West Indies 1st ODI?
Kuldeep Yadav, for figures of 4/40. India won by eight wickets with 50 balls remaining.
Has Virat Kohli announced his retirement?
He has said the 2027 World Cup will be his last for India. He has already retired from T20 Internationals and Tests, and ODIs are the only format he plays for India. His statement covers his India career only; he has not spoken about stepping away from cricket altogether.
