Kohli targets Tendulkar and Ponting milestones as India tour New Zealand

Virat Kohli will chase two major batting milestones when India begin a five-match ODI series against New Zealand on November 4, with the former India captain closing in on Sachin Tendulkar’s overall runs tally versus the Black Caps and Ricky Ponting’s ODI runs mark against them.

Kohli has amassed 3,167 international runs in 60 matches against New Zealand, including 10 centuries and 16 half-centuries, leaving him 178 runs short of Tendulkar’s 3,345 in 66 matches; England’s Joe Root is second with 3,268 from 56 matches, while Ponting and Jacques Kallis complete the top five.

In the 50-over format specifically, Kohli has scored 1,897 runs in 36 ODIs against New Zealand at an average of 57.48, with seven centuries and 10 half-centuries, and requires 74 runs to overtake Ponting, who has 1,971 ODI runs against the Kiwis in 51 matches.

Kohli is also 103 runs away from becoming the first batter to reach 2,000 ODI runs versus New Zealand; on the all-time list Tendulkar sits third with 1,750 in 42 matches, followed by Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya.

The 37-year-old enters the series having scored 552 runs in nine ODI innings in 2026 at an average of 69, including two centuries and three half-centuries; his highest score this year was an unbeaten 139 off 88 balls against the West Indies in Thiruvananthapuram in September, after which he made 29 and 0 in the remaining two matches of that series, finishing with 168 runs across the three games.

Earlier this year Kohli recorded scores of 93, 23 and 124 in India’s three-match home series against New Zealand, with the 124 coming in the third ODI in Indore, and he has compiled 596 runs in 13 ODIs in New Zealand at an average of 49.66, including one century and four half-centuries.

The five-match series begins on November 4, giving Kohli the immediate chance to chase those individual records while India use the tour as preparation for the 2027 ODI World Cup.