Ex-India cricket skipper Virat Kohli is universally considered the Second God of Cricket after his idol Sachin Tendulkar, referred to as the God of Cricket. ICC Men's Player of the Decade, Kohli has been the best batsman in world cricket over the decade with ease, towering above world-class contemporaries such as Steve Smith, Joe Root, Rohit Sharma and many more. India's ability to come up with magical batsmen ever since Sunil Gavaskar has been nothing short of amazing. Whereas Gavaskar was succeeded by Sachin Tendulkar, the Master Blaster was followed by Kohli. Both of them had the same playing eleven which won India the second ODI World Cup title after 28 years; rest is history. Kohli is so overwhelmingly recognized as the second God of Cricket, that some of the top cricket betting platforms have already begun taking odds on who will be the third God of Cricket. Why is Virat Kohli Known as the Second God of Cricket? Image Source: Getty Images Though Kohli hasn't broken all records of Tendulkar and considering his age, that also looks a long shot, the latest being overtaking Sachin for achieving the highest score of runs in a World Cup of a single format. The 2023 ODI World Cup featured Kohli adding an astounding 711 Runs to his kitty, the most any player in a single season of tournament history by a landslide margin. On his way, Kohli overhauled the age-old record held by Tendulkar at 673 runs that Master Blaster had managed to rack up back in 2003 during South Africa where India had also reached the final. Aside from this, here are some examples when Kohli demonstrated to the world that he is superior to Tendulkar. Also Read | How to Choose the Right Cricket Bat Weight? Guide Fastest to Reach 10,000 ODI Runs Image Source: BCCI On 24th October, 2018, while marching towards an unblemished 157 runs, Virat Kohli completed his 10,000 ODI runs when he scored 81 runs. He achieved the landmark in a record 205 innings, 54 fewer than what Tendulkar had accomplished in 259 innings in the year 2001 against Australia. Besides Tendulkar, Kohli had also beaten 12 other batsmen, including Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakkara and former India skipper MS Dhoni, to achieve this feat. The other prominent names on this exclusive list were Sourav Ganguly (263 innings) and Australia's Ricky Ponting (266 innings). Kohli achieved 10,000 runs in a mere 10 years and 67 days after his ODI debut. Fastest to Reach 12000 ODI Runs Image Source: Associated Press Coming after his 10,000 run-tally, Virat Kohli then achieved his 12,000th ODI run in playing against Australia in Rajkot. Arriving at the second match of the three-match ODI series, Kohli needed only 23 runs to achieve 12000 runs and he was able to achieve it in only his 242nd innings, 37 innings subsequent to his 10,000 run-tally. Kohli also became the quickest batsman in cricket history to score 12,000 ODI runs and thereby broke Tendulkar's record of achieving the same feat in 300 innings, 58 innings more than Kohli. Highest ODI-Rated Indian Batsman Ever Image Source: Associated Press The then-Indian captain Virat Kohli was in mercurial touch in 2017 when New Zealand toured India for a three-match ODI series. His scores during that series were 121, 29 and 113. As a result, Kohli overtook his contemporary and RCB teammate AB de Villiers to regain the ICC top ranking with a rating of 889. This was also the highest ICC batting rating that any Indian had achieved since Sachin Tendulkar had been able to achieve in 1998. The Master Blaster had achieved the top career rating of 887. Fastest Batsman to Score 50 International Centuries Image Source: Associated Press In 2017, India hosted Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens, and it was a major moment for Virat Kohli. He made an unbeaten 104 runs while the rest of the middle order fell short, most getting out with single-digit figures. His effort placed India in a commanding position, although the match was eventually drawn. With this century, Kohli achieved 50 international hundreds in all forms. It was his 18th Test century, and he equaled Hashim Amla's record of 50 centuries in only 348 innings. This was 28 innings quicker than Sachin Tendulkar, who achieved the same feat in 376 innings. But Tendulkar retired with 100 centuries—20 more than Kohli has at the age of 35. Also Read | IPL 2025 Fixtures Announced: Get Ready for Non-Stop Cricket Action Fastest Batsman to Score 40 ODI Hundreds Image Source: Associated Press When Virat Kohli achieved his 40th ODI century, he was just the second player in history to do so and put an end to all arguments regarding the best ODI player. His 116 runs against Australia on 5 March 2019 in Nagpur reached him to 40 centuries in 216 innings, which was 139 innings behind Sachin Tendulkar's 355 innings. Only Batsman to Score 50 ODI Centuries Image Source: Associated Press It was decided in Nagpur itself that Kohli would end up with 50 ODI centuries, a feat no other batsman had done in the history of cricket. The inevitable occurred on November 15, 2023, at the Wankhede against New Zealand, when Kohli made 117 in front of a full house that had Tendulkar himself, to make his 50th ODI ton. Longevity has been the key in Tendulkar's record-breaking career, something Kohli would have to keep up with. But he wouldn't have to match his match by match as his scoring rate, fitness and consistency are better than his hero. This is established by his record in the ODI World Cup. Kohli has featured in two less World Cups than Tendulkar and lags the latter by a mere 483 runs in World Cup history. He remains one behind Tendulkar's World Cup century mark of six and three behind his half-century mark of 15. In the T20I World Cups, no one catches up with Virat Kohli. He is the leading run-scorer with 1141 runs in 25 matches at an incredible average of 81.50. The second-highest run-scorer is retired Mahela Jayawardene with 1016 runs.