While Kohli has a big lead over Rohit when it comes to batting records across their careers in all three formats, the ‘Hitman’ has outscored ‘Cheeku’ over the last one year.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from the Twenty20 International format after helping India win the 2024 T20 World Cup. AP

The trio of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah have defined the current generation of Indian cricket as much as the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble defined the team of the late 1990s and the 2000s and Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar defined the Indian team in the 1970s and the 1980s.

Cricket fandom isn’t really divided when it comes to Jasprit Bumrah, widely regarded as India’s best fast bowler of all time and also someone who has done enough to rank among the greatest all-formats bowlers of all time. No two individuals, however, have left Indian cricket fans as divided as Rohit and Kohli, who are among the leading batters of their generation and among the greatest Indian batters of all time — a feat made all the more impressive when looking at India’s legacy of producing world-class batters generation after generation.

While few possess the kind of timing that India Test and ODI captain Rohit has, Kohli has achieved enough in the sport to be counted among the greatest batters of all time across formats and arguably the greatest in the ODI format alongside Tendulkar and West Indian icon Viv Richards.

The two have also had immense success as captain of the Indian teams; while Kohli’s reign was particularly noted for overseas Test success, with India winning their first-ever Test series on Australian soil in 2018-19, the Men in Blue absolutely dominated ICC events during Rohit’s leadership — finishing runners-up in last year’s ODI World Cup and winning the T20 World Cup in June.

Their leadership skills, along with their numerous feats with the bat, have contributed to the whole ‘Rohitian vs Viratian’ debate that floods microblogging platform X as well as photo and video-sharing platform Instagram.

Though their white-ball records could be considered comparable, especially in the ODI format, Kohli is streets ahead as far as the Test format is concerned given Rohit wasn’t even a regular Test player for a majority of his career and was considered an indispensable part of the white-ball teams.

It’s worth noting, however, that Rohit has had a far better record with the bat across in the last one year that Kohli. That too while captaining the Indian team across formats.

How Rohit has outscored Kohli in the last one year

Looking at their statistics since 21 August last year, Rohit and Kohli have played 39 and 32 matches respectively for the Indian team. The difference of seven games between the two superstars, however, isn’t proportional to the difference in runs scored during this period, with Rohit well ahead in this regard.

While the ‘Hitman’ has scored 1,867 runs with four centuries and 13 half-centuries during this period, Kohli has scored 1,360 runs with as many tons and nine fifties. What is interesting however, is the fact that Kohli’s average (48.57) is better than that of Rohit (46.67), albeit slightly.

Both Kohli and Rohit were unstoppable in last year’s ODI World Cup at home, finishing as the top two run-scorers with 765 and 597 runs respectively. Kohli would bring up a milestone 50th ODI century, going past the legendary Tendulkar, in the semi-final against New Zealand in Mumbai in that tournament.

Skipper Rohit Sharma finished as the second-highest run-scorer in the T20 World Cup in June. AP
However, where Rohit managed to surge ahead of Kohli was in the five-match Test series against England at home in February and March this year, which the latter skipped due to personal reasons. Rohit not only led India to a 4-1 triumph after losing the opening fixture in Hyderabad, he would end up scoring 400 runs with the help of two centuries and a fifty.

There was also a marked difference between the two in the T20 World Cup. While Kohli’s only major contribution came in the form of a match-winning 76 in the final, Rohit finished as the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament, collecting 257 runs at a strike rate of 156.70 including a memorable 92 against Australia in the Super 8s.

Both Rohit and Kohli would retire from Twenty20 Internationals along with senior all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja after helping India defeat South Africa in the final and win their first ICC tournament in 11 years. Both returned to action in the ODI series against Sri Lanka earlier this month, which the Men in Blue ended up losing 0-2, and have indicated their desire to represent the nation in Tests and ODIs till the 2027 World Cup in South Africa.