Here's proof that Virat Kohli is best in the world after 200 ODIs

Courtesy: PTI

New Delhi: Team India skipper Virat Kohli led from the front as the Men in Blue finished their innings at 280/8 from 50 overs in the first ODI against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Although the hosts lost the match by six wickets, the 28-year-old also became only the second player in ODI history to score a century in his 200th One-Day International. 

South Africa batsman AB de Villiers also has a century in his 200th ODI.

After his 31st century in the 200th ODI, Kohli moved past former Australia captain Ricky Ponting and is now behind only Sachin Tendulkar who is at the top spot with 49 centuries.

There have been a lot of debates about who is the best batsman in the world right now and if we go by numbers, it seems that Kohli tops the list by a fair margin.

Kohli's numbers after the 200th ODIs:

#8888 runs at an average of 55.55 and a strike-rate of 91.54. He has 31 centuries and 45 half-centuries. That conversion rate is one of the best at this point of his career.

#Before Kohli, AB de Villiers had the best numbers. He had 8621 runs at an average of 54.56. The number of centuries were far less, only 24. The only factor where Kohli is left behind in the comparison is the strike-rate. De Villiers scored a rate of 100.25.

#Among Indian players, no one is even close. Sourav Ganguly had 7747 runs from 194 innings. The runs were scored at an average of 43.03 and a strike rate of 73.70. Ganguly had only 18 centuries at that stage.

#Among current players who have not played 200 ODIs, South Africa’s Hashim Amla comes close to breaking Kohli’s record. He has previously bettered Kohli’s record of quickest to 7,000 ODI runs.

# Kohli has posted five hundreds this year in ODIs - the first player to do so in 2017. The next in the list is Rohit Sharma with four hundreds. Kohli became the second Indian skipper after Sourav Ganguly (2000) to post five hundreds in a calendar year in ODIs.