Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli became the latest entrant into the 9000-run club in Test cricket. The 35-year-old achieved the feat during the third day of the opening Test match in Bengaluru. The feat was achieved in the 4th ball of the 42nd over bowled by William O Rourke as the capacity crowd in Bengaluru stood up in delight.
Virat Kohli was out for a duck in the first innings after opting to bat at number 3 for India. In the 2nd inning, Kohli was back to his best as he hit a few delightful shots. Batting on 53, Kohli was put down in the slips off Glenn Phillips’ bowling. The 35-year-old also hit a huge six off Ajaz Patel much to the delight of his RCB fans.
Sachin Tendulkar leads the list with 15,921 runs from 200 Test matches. Rahul Dravid is the 2nd best Indian batter in the Test format with 13,288 runs while Sunil Gavaskar has a total of 10,122 runs. Virat Kohli got to his 9000 runs in his 196th inning while Dravid is the fastest Indian to the feat having got there in 176 innings.
For the record, Kumar Sangakkara is the fastest to the feat having scored 9000 runs in just 172 innings. Former Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar got the mark in 179 and 192 innings respectively.
Timely return to form for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli delights India
India was bowled out for just 46 in the first Test match during the 2nd day of the Bengaluru Test on Thursday. The shocking batting performance saw just two Indian batters go past double figures. Yashasvi Jaiswal with 13 and Rishabh Pant’s 20 were the only two telling contributions.
Rohit Sharma had been dismissed for 2 in the first innings and his dismissal was called out by fans and experts. India’s skipper showed his class in the 2nd innings as he smashed a terrific fifty. The 37-year-old hit 8 fours and a six before he was out to Ajaz Patel.
Virat Kohli on the other hand was out for a duck after having been given a chance to bat at number 3. The former Indian skipper was in his element as he didn’t seem to be bogged down with the bat. Combining well with Sarfaraz Khan, India’s batting ace dominated the Kiwi bowling. Indian fans will hope Virat Kohli can bat well to score his 30th Test ton on Saturday.