Virat Kohli's missed milestone: Has any batter retired with 50-plus average in ODI, Test and T20I formats?

It is very rare for batters to leave the sport with a batting average over 50 in a single format, but Virat Kohli nearly did it in all three.

The Indian star retired from Tests on May 12, 2025, with an average of 46.85 and from T20Is in June 2024 with an average of 48.69. He will continue to play ODIs, where he averages 57.88.

However, it wasn't always like this, at least in T20Is, where he averaged over 50 until one month before his retirement. His poor outing during the T20 World Cup 2024, barring the 76 in the Final, damaged his numbers. 

Before the T20 World Cup, he averaged 51.75 in T20Is but, having scored just 151 runs in eight matches at 18.87, his career number fell to 48.69.

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As for Tests, he averaged 53.41 in 147 innings until 2020, but post the COVID period, his shocking downfall in the biggest format began. Since 2020, he scored 1912 runs at 31.86 in 63 innings, bringing his career average down further.

While Kohli wasn't able to leave cricket with the special milestone, The Sporting News explores if any batter in history has averaged 50+ in all formats - ODIs, T20Is and Tests.

Has any batter retired with a 50-plus average in all formats - ODI, Tests and T20Is?

No, no batter has achieved this feat in cricket history as of 2025. It is safe to say that Kohli was the batter who had the best chance to become the first ever to retire with a 50+ average in all three formats.

However, Kohli's end in Tests and T20Is were a relative disappointment. - While he may not have played with this target, it appears to be a big miss; a feat such as this would have been an unattainable record in the history books.

* Kohli has not retired from ODIs yet

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Has any player retired with 50+ averages in both Tests and ODIs?

Since most cricketers in the early 2000s and eras before that haven't played T20 cricket, this appears to be a fairer comparison.

Yes, AB de Villiers is the only batter in cricket history who has averaged over 50 in both Tests and ODIs at the end of his career. The South African was one of the most consistent batters in the two formats, who continued to display a balance of explosive and classical batting for the Proteas until his retirement in 2018.

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While de Villiers was never able to crack the T20I format in the international scene, he boasts an exceptional record in the other two formats.

However, outside T20 internationals, he was a great T20 player, notably in his time with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).