During India’s first Test against New Zealand at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Virat Kohli surpassed the 9000-run milestone in Test cricket on Friday. He achieved this after scoring a half-century while batting at No. 3 in India’s second innings. This was his first time batting in that position in eight years, following a dismissal for a nine-ball duck in the previous innings.
Despite India’s struggle, being bowled out for their lowest-ever home total of 46 runs, Kohli rebounded, helping India chase a 356-run deficit. Kohli became the fourth Indian batter to surpass 9000 Test runs, joining legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sunil Gavaskar. However, Kohli took the most innings—197—to reach the mark, needing 28 more innings after crossing 8000 runs in 2022. Meanwhile, New Zealand posted a strong 402-run total, thanks to Rachin Ravindra’s century.
In his 536th match, Kohli also surpassed MS Dhoni’s 535 matches for India, making him the second-most capped Indian player behind Sachin Tendulkar (664 matches). In the recent Bangladesh series, Kohli became the fastest to 27,000 international runs, doing so in 594 innings.
Most Test runs for India:
– 15921 – Sachin Tendulkar
– 13288 – Rahul Dravid
– 10122 – Sunil Gavaskar
– 9000 – Virat Kohli
Innings to reach 9000 Test runs:
– 176 – Rahul Dravid
– 179 – Sachin Tendulkar
– 192 – Sunil Gavaskar
– 197 – Virat Kohli