During the third day of the first Test between India and New Zealand at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Virat Kohli achieved the milestone of 9000 Test runs on Friday.
India vs New Zealand: 1st Test, Day 3
After an uninspiring duck in the first innings, Kohli redeemed himself by scoring the 53 runs required to become the fourth Indian to score 9000 Test runs. Kohli joins legends Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sunil Gavaskar as those who have crossed the milestone.
While he also holds the record for the highest run scoring by an Indian batsman who played tests for India, with 15,921 runs in 200 matches, Dravid stands third in the list with 13,265 runs in 163 tests, and Gavaskar stood third with 10,122 runs in 125 matches. Kohli took 197 innings to reach that mark; he is the slowest of all to do so.
Heading into the match, Kohli had scored 9017 runs in 116 Tests.
Top Indian Test Run Scorers:
Sachin Tendulkar – 15,921
Rahul Dravid – 13,265
Sunil Gavaskar – 10,122
Virat Kohli – 9017
VVS Laxman – 8781
During the third day of the first Test between India and New Zealand at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengalurumarked his 31st Test half-century at 35 years of age as New Zealand mounted pressure on the back of their 402 in their first innings. Kohli, the second-highest Test run-scorer among active players after Joe Root, was dismissed for 70 by Glenn Phillips. On his 50-ball knock, Kohli had eight boundaries and a six before moving out, taking India to 231/3 at the end of the day’s play. Sarfaraz Khan is undefeated on 70.
Kohli, after some testing times for him in 2024, will be eager to assert his capability here with a home series against New Zealand under the captaincy of Tom Latham whom he has never overcome.
Last month, Kohli became the fastest-ever batter to aggregate 27,000 international runs when he achieved the milestone in only 594 innings during a series against Bangladesh.
