Virat Kohli went past 9000 Test runs during India’s first Test against New Zealand at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday.
Kohli reached the mark after crossing his half-century batting at No. 3 in India’s second-innings. Batting at No. 3 for the first time in eight years, Kohli fell for a nine-ball duck in the previous innings.
The former India skipper was quick to put the blob behind as India set out in pursuit of a 356-run first-innings deficit. India were earlier shot out for 46, its lowest Test total at home, on Thursday. The Kiwis put up a strong reply of 402 led by Rachin Ravindra’s hundred.
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Kohli is the fourth Indian batter to cross the 9000-run mark in Tests, joining the illustrious company of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar. Kohli, however, is the slowest of the four to reach the milestone in 197 innings, taking 28 outings since reaching 8000 runs in 169 innings in 2022.
Appearing in his 536th match, Kohli also surpassed MS Dhoni’s 535 caps for India in Bengaluru, making him the second-most capped Indian player after Tendulkar (664).
In the recent Test series against Bangladesh, Kohli became the quickest batter to complete 27,000 international runs in only 594 innings.
Most Test runs for India
15921 – Sachin Tendulkar
13288 – Rahul Dravid
10122 – Sunil Gavaskar
9000* – Virat Kohli
Innings taken to reach 9000 Test runs
176 – Dravid
179 – Tendulkar
192 – Gavaskar
197 – Kohli
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