After a silent feature in the first Test match in Nagpur, the Team India duo of Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara will set their tone for a special club in Delhi. The second Test match which kicks start on Friday (February 17) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium could see local boy Kohli and Pujara join the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke while Team India look to stretch their lead to 2-0 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Special 2000 club on cards
As things stand, Puajra needs 100 more runs to register 2000 runs in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and has 1900 runs in 21 matches (38 innings). Pujara was dismissed for just 7 runs in the only innings he played in Nagpur and will look to reach the tally at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. This will be India’s first Test in Delhi after more than five years.
On the flip side, Virat will have a huge mountain to climb if he is to reach the 2000-run mark in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Currently, on 1694 runs in 21 matches, the former India skipper needs 306 runs more to reach the milestone and will need something extraordinary to make it happen.
However, Virat scoring 306 runs in Delhi can’t be ruled out as he scored 243-run innings in his last appearance in the red-ball format at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in December 2017. A similar knock for him could see him reach near the tally.
Most Runs in Border-Gavaskar Trophy
- Sachin Tendulkar – 3262 runs in 65 innings (34 matches)
- Ricky Ponting – 2555 runs in 51 innings (29 matches)
- VVS Laxman – 2434 runs in 54 innings (29 matches)
- Rahul Dravid – 2143 runs in 60 innings (32 matches)
- Michael Clarke – 2049 runs in 40 innings (22 matches)
- Cheteshwar Pujara – 1900 runs in 38 innings (21 matches)
- Virat Kohli – 1694 runs in 37 innings (21 matches)
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India look to gain vital lead in Delhi
Team India will look to gain a vital lead in the Border-Gavsakar Trophy as they take on the Aussies at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. A win for India in the contest will take them a step closer to the World Test Championship (WTC) final in June. India will need to win at least two matches in the series and are on course to do so.
The likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja looked in great touch in the opening contest while skipper Rohit Sharma and Axar Patel also came up with vital contributions. India won the first Test by an inning and 132 runs to take the 1-0.
