Harry Brook Breaks Virat Kohli's Elite Captaincy Record After Scoring 72 Runs In 5th ODI vs Australia

Stand-in captain Harry Brook was in red-hot form for England in the five-match ODI series against Australia that concluded on Sunday (September 29) in Bristol. Brook, who was leading England for the first time in his career after Jos Buttler got ruled out due to injury, amassed a total of 312 runs in five matches to finish as the leading run scorer in series. He scored 39, 4, 110*, 87, and 72 runs. By smacking 312 runs, 25-year-old Brook broke Virat Kohli’s record of scoring most runs as a captain in a bilateral ODI series against Australia.

Former Indian captain Kohli hammered 310 runs in five matches as captain during the ODI series played in February-March 2019 in India.

MS Dhoni is third on the list with 285 runs, and he is followed by England’s Eoin Morgan (278) and Pakistan’s Babar Azam (276 runs).

Most runs against Australia in ODI bilateral series as captain

• 312 – Harry Brook (England, 2024)
• 310 – Virat Kohli (India, 2019)
• 285 – MS Dhoni (India, 2009)
• 278 – Eoin Morgan (England, 2015)
• 276 – Babar Azam (Pakistan, 2022)

But despite his super show with the bat, Brook failed to help England win the series against their arch rivals. The hosts, which staged a comeback in the series by winning third and fourth ODI, lost the rain-hit series decider in Bristol on Sunday by 49 runs.

Apart from breaking Kohli’s record of scoring most runs in an ODI series against Australia as captain, Brook also became only the fourth England captain after Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, and Eoin Morgan to score three back-to-back 50+ scores in ODIs.

He is also the fifth captain in the world to register three back-to-back 50+ scores in 50-over matches against Australia.

Captains to score 3 back-to-back 50s vs Australia in ODIs

• 3 – Imran Khan (Pakistan, 1990)
• 3 – Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pakistan, 2004-05)
• 3 – Eoin Morgan (England, 2015)
• 3 – Babar Azam (Pakistan, 2022)
• 3 – Harry Brook (England, 2024)

After starring in England’s ODI series against Australia, Brook will now travel with the Test team to Pakistan for a three-match series that is set to start on October 7 in Multan.

In the last Test tour of Pakistan in December 2022, Brook made headlines with his superb batting show. He amassed a total of 468 runs in three matches for the Ben Stokes-led side against Babar Azam & Co. In that assignment, Brook scored a century in all three matches for England and helped them whitewash Pakistan for the first time ever in a Test series played on Pakistani soil.