NEW DELHI, OCT 19
Star batter Virat Kohli on Friday became the fourth Indian to scale the 9000-run peak in the longest format of the game. He achieved the feat during the third day of the opening Test against New Zealand here on Friday.
While doing so, Kohli joined an august company featuring Sachin Tendulkar (15921), Rahul Dravid (13265) and Sunil Gavaskar (10122). However, Kohli’s achievement came after a longer stretch than his predecessors, taking 197 innings to reach the landmark. His journey from 8000 to 9000 runs took 28 outings, a mark he had been chasing since 2022. Additionally, the Bengaluru Test saw Kohli surpass another record as he made his 536th international appearance, surpassing MS Dhoni’s 535 caps for India. With this, Kohli now stands as the second-most capped Indian player, only behind Tendulkar’s colossal tally of 664.
Earlier, in the series against Bangladesh, Kohli also became the fastest player to reach 27,000 international runs, achieving the feat in just 594 innings, further solidifying his status among cricket’s all-time greats.
