India vs Australia: Virat Kohli's 11-year streak breaks as Indian captain ends 2020 without ODI century

Virat Kohli's 11-year streak came to an end when he was dismissed for 63 during the third One-Day International (ODI) between India and Australia on Wednesday.

As it was India's final ODI of 2020, Kohli finished the year without registering a score in triple digits in the 50-over format. The last time Kohli did not score a hundred in a year in the ODIs was back in 2008, which was his maiden year in international cricket. He recorded his first ODI hundred in 2009 against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens, and since then, he had never failed to score a ton in any year until 2020.

One of the reasons for this infamous record of Kohli is fewer matches in 2020 because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that had suspended cricket for at least three months earlier this year.

However, at the Manuka Oval on Wednesday, Kohli also claimed a special record en route his score of 63 off 78 balls. He became the fastest to complete 12,000 runs in the ODIs. The 32-year-old Kohli bettered the previous record that was held by legendary Sachin Tendulkar, who got to his 12,000th run in his 300th innings, while Kohli needed only 242 innings. The Indian captain also holds the record for the fastest batsman (in terms of innings) to 10,000 and 11,000 runs in ODIs. He reached 11,000 runs in 222 innings and became the fastest to break the 10000-run mark by doing so in his 205th innings. 

Kohli has ended 2020 with 431 runs in nine matches at an average of 47.88, including five half-centuries. Overall, Australia captain Aaron Finch has ended the year as the leading run-scorer in the ODIs with 673 runs in 13 matches at 56.08 ahead of teammate Steven Smith, who has scored 568 runs at an average of 63.11.

Meanwhile, 2020 hasn't been a great year for Kohli as India captain as India have lost five back-to-back ODIs – three in New Zealand and two in Australia.

Kohli's side avoided a whitewash on Wednesday by winning the dead rubber third ODI against Australia in Canberra. The series was lost for Kohli and Co after they suffered losses in the opening two games of the three-match ODI series – by 66 and 51 runs respectively at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). The Indian team bounced back with a 13-run win over the hosts to end the series 2-1.