Mumbai, February 25: In awe of Virat Kohli's formidable ODI statistics, former England captains Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain believe that the Indian mainstay is probably the best batsman in the history of the format. Kohli played a master-class innings of unbeaten 100, his 51st century in ODIs, to steer India to a comfortable six-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan in a Champions Trophy match here on Sunday. Ricky Ponting Lauds Virat Kohli After Match-Winning Century Against Pakistan in ICC Champions Trophy 2025, Says ‘I Haven’t Seen a Better ODI Player Than Him; He Can Be the Leading Run-Scorer’.

"Virat Kohli in a run-chase in 50-over cricket, there's been nobody better in the history of the game, really. 51 century is an unbelievable number," said the 56-year-old Atherton, who captained England in 54 Test matches, on 'Sky Sports Cricket Podcast'.

Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain Laud Virat Kohli

En route his century in his 299th 50-over appearance, Kohli became the fastest batter to reach 14,000 ODI runs, joining the elite group of Sachin Tendulkar (18,426 in 452 innings) and Kumar Sangakkara (14,234 in 380 innings).

"I mean, he's got 51 and he passed 14,000 runs, which only Tendulkar and Sangakkara have got past that mark in one-day cricket and he got them in 60-odd innings quicker than Sachin, and I think about 90-odd innings quicker than Kumar. So, I mean, ODI is probably his best. You know, he's been a great all-format player, clearly, but you'd probably say that ODI is his absolute best format." Atherton continued. Fan Holds Out Pakistan's Jersey With Virat Kohli's Name in Rawalpindi During BAN vs NZ ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Match (See Pic and Video).

Echoing similar sentiments, Hussain, who led England between 1999 to 2003, remarked, "He's been an incredible player. Yeah, and you'd have to say probably the best player in ODIs of all time, really, with those stats you mentioned.

"You'd have Tendulkar in the same conversation. Kumar, you'd have AB de Villiers. They've been some great ones, but he's right at the top of the tree."

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)