India skipper Virat Kohli is on the cusp of adding a new feather into his already illustrious cap when he takes to the field against Sri Lanka in the team’s last ICC World Cup 2019 group stage clash at Headingley in Leeds on Saturday. Team India have already secured a place in the final four and will be looking to end the league stage on winning note while as for Sri Lanka, they will be playing for pride as they have already being ousted from the competition. ((ICC World Cup 2019: Full Coverage))

Kohli is at that stage of the career where whenever he comes out to bat, he threatens a record or two. The Sri Lanka clash won’t be any different as the India captain needs just five runs to join legendary cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly in an elite World Cup list.

If he scores five runs against Sri Lanka, Kohli will become just the third Indian cricketer to complete 1000 runs in World Cup. Tendulkar leads the way in this particular list while Ganguly comes in at distant second. Kohli will be the third and he will have a chance to surpass Ganguly as he needs just 12 runs to do so.

Most runs for India in World Cup -

2278 in 44 innings: Sachin Tendulkar

1006 in 21 innings: Sourav Ganguly

995 in 24 innings: Virat Kohli

874 in 15 innings: Rohit Sharma

860 in 21 innings: Rahul Dravid

For India, the clash against Sri Lanka will have significance only because it will help in deciding which spot the ‘Men in Blue’ will finally end on the league table.

If Australia win their match against South Africa and India win their match against Sri Lanka, India will take on England at Edgbaston on July 11. However, if Australia are downed by South Africa and India win against Sri Lanka, India claim the top spot and will take on New Zealand in Manchester on July 9.

First Published: Jul 05, 2019 20:42 IST