Virat Kohli entered the history books during India's opening Test match against New Zealand in Bengaluru on Friday. Kohli scored a brave fifty in the second innings to complete 9,000 runs in Test cricket and became the only fourth Indian to achieve this historic feat.
After being bowled out on a duck in the first match, the former captain displayed some glimpses of returning to his best with a much-needed fifty in the second innings. Kohli achieved the 9000 Test runs milestone after reaching the 53-run mark at M Chinnaswamy Stadium and joined legendary Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar in the elite list.
Gavaskar achieved this milestone in 192 innings in 1985 while Tendulkar took 179 innings to score 9000 Test runs in 2004. Dravid was the last Indian cricketer to achieve this feat in 2006 and also the fastest in terms of the fewest innings of 176.
Notably, Kohli reached his first 8000 runs in March 2022 but took more than two and half years to reach the 9000-run mark. Kohli took 70 balls to register his 60th fifty-plus score in red-ball cricket and first since December 2023.
Most Test runs for India
- Sachin Tendulkar - 15,921 runs in 200 Tests
- Rahul Dravid - 13,265 runs in 163 Tests
- Sunil Gavaskar - 10,122 runs in 125 Tests
- Virat Kohli - 9,000 runs in 116* Tests
- VVS Laxman - 8781 runs in 134 Tests
Meanwhile, after trailing 356 runs in the first innings, India make a sensational comeback in the second innings with Rohit, Virat and Sarfaraz Khan scoring fifties each. Rohit departed after scoring his fifty but Kohli and Sarfaraz pulled off a brilliant unbeaten 100-run stand for the third wicket to keep India on a track for big total in the second innings.
