IND vs NZ 1st Test: Virat Kohli Completes 9,000 Test Runs, Slowest Indian To Achieve This Feat

Virat Kohli completed his 9,000 runs in Test cricket and became the fourth Indian, but the slowest to achieve this feat.

Bengaluru (Karnataka):Batting stalwart Virat Kohli completed his 9,000 runs in Test cricket and became the fourth Indian to achieve this feat. Kohli achieved this incredible feat during the first Test between India and New Zealand at M Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Friday, October 18, 2024.

Kohli is now only behind cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, former batter and head coach Rahul Dravid, and legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar in the list of most runs by Indians in Test cricket. Tendulkar leads the list for Test runs at the international level with 15,921, followed by Dravid with 13,265 and Gavaskar with 10,122 runs.

The 35-year-old achieved this significant feat in his 197 innings while the previous slowest was from Gavaskar, who took 192 innings to reach this landmark. Dravid was the fastest Indian to reach 9,000 runs in the red-ball cricket, taking only 176 innings, followed by Sachin Tendulkar with 179.

Overall, he became the 18th cricketer to achieve the 9,000 runs landmark in the longest format of the game.

Kohli scored a crucial half-century in the second innings after getting out on a duck in the first innings. India stitched a crucial partnership with young gun Sarfaraz Khan, taking their side closer to the 350+ run deficit of the first innings. Notably, India were bundled out for 46 in the first essay, the lowest team total in India and Asia.

Kohli also made another record in the ongoing Test, becoming the second most capped player from India, surpassing former India captain MS Dhoni. Kohli has appeared in 536 matches across formats so far in his international career and is only behind Sachin Tendulkar, who holds the record for most international matches as he has featured in 664 games. MS Dhoni is now third on the list with 535 games.

Apart from this, Virat Kohli became the first player to score 15,000 runs while batting at number in international cricket including Test, ODIs and T20Is. Kohli has amassed 159 runs in Test, 11,785 runs in ODIs and 3,076 runs in the shortest format of the game.

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