Virat Kohli and records go hand in hand. Whenever he takes the field, the man tumbles quite a few records and the former India skipper would be hoping to start the 2024 on a good note after dominating last year massively with the bat. India are scheduled to play the second and final Test against South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town from January 3 and Kohli has a chance to climb the list of most runs scored in Test cricket.
He is not yet in top 10 of the list but among active players, Kohli is the third highest run-getter in red-ball cricket. So far, he has amassed 8790 runs in 112 Test matches at an average of 49.38 with 29 centuries and 30 half-centuries to his name. At a time, Kohli has a chance to go past two Pakistan legends Inzamam-ul-Haq and Javed Miandad during the Cape Town Test as he needs only 40 and 42 runs respectively to do so. While Inzamam scored 8830 in 120 Tests he played for Pakistan, Miandad featured in 124 matches in the whites to amass 8832 runs.
If Virat Kohli manages to score these many runs across two innings of the upcoming Test match, he will jump to the 18th position in the list of most runs scored in the history of the format. Among current cricketers, only Joe Root and Steve Smith are ahead of him while David Warner who will play his final Test in Sydney from January is closely following Kohli.
Active cricketers to score most runs in Tests
| Players | Runs |
| Joe Root (England) | 11416 |
| Steve Smith (Australia) | 9472 |
| Virat Kohli (India) | 8790 |
| David Warner (Australia) | 8695 |
| Kane Williamson (New Zealand) | 8263 |
Former New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson completes the top five list having scored 8263 runs in 96 Tests at an average of 54.36 with 29 tons and 33 fifties to his name.
