File image of Virat Kohli
Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Friday evening (November 22) added another feather to his already-crammed hat as he reached the milestone of 5000 runs in Test cricket as a captain of the national side. He achieved the feat on day 1 of the historic day-night Test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
He reached the mark with a single down leg side in the 27th over off Taijul Islam. Moving to 32, Kohli became the first Indian skipper to amass 5000 Test runs as a captain and sixth overall after topper Graeme Smith (8659 runs), Allan Border (6623 runs), Ricky Ponting (6542 runs), Clive Llyod (5233 runs) and Stephen Fleming (5156 runs).
Achieving the feat in his 86th innings, Kohli became the fastest to amass 5000 runs as Test skipper, surpassing Ponting's tally of 97 innings, followed by Lloyd (106 innings), Smith (110), Border (116) and Fleming (130).
Kohli was also the fastest to 4000 Test runs as Indian skipper having reached the milestone in 65 innings. However, it was Don Bradman who was the fastest to 1000 (11 innings), 2000 (24 innings) and 3000 (37 innings) runs as Test skipper of Australia.
Talking about the match, Indian pacers folded Bangladesh for a paltry 106 with Ishant Sharma completing his tenth five-wicket haul in the format and second at home. Umesh Yadav picked three while Mohammed Shami bagged two wickets. In reply, Mayank Agarwal was dismissed before tea while Rohit Sharma departed shortly after the final break. Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara cautiously carried on in the dew session, stitching 68-run partnership in 109 deliveries. The partnership also helped India take a lead in the first innings.
