Brisbane:Former skipper and batting stalwart Virat Kohli became the third-highest scorer for India against Australia in Test cricket, surpassing former skipper and head coach Rahul Dravid. Kohli achieved a significant record on Day 3 of the ongoing third Test between India and Australia at the iconic The Gabba here on Monday, December 16, 2024.
Kohli is playing his 100th international match across formats against Australia, the second most after legendary Sachin Tendulkar's tally of 110.
Kohli came out to bat when India were reeling at 6/2, losing southpaw opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (4 off 2 balls) and Shubman Gill (1 off 3 balls). There were many expectations from Kohli, who was on his fourth tour to Australia, but he failed to live up to the expectations. Kohli (3 off 16 balls) edged one to the wicket-keeper after scoring just two runs. Once again, he tried to work with the fourth or fifth stump line delivery and ended up giving a sitter behind the wickets.
However, Kohli managed to break Rahul Dravid's significant record for most Test runs against Australia. Kohli and Dravid were levelled on 2,166 runs and with his first runs on the board, the former became the third leading run-getter against Australia in Test cricket.
Kohli now has 2,168 runs to his name in the longest format of cricket at an average of 46.12 which includes 9 hundreds and 5 fifties. On the other hand, Rahul Dravid had amassed 2,166 runs at an average of 38.67 with the help of two centuries and 13 fifties.
Kohli is now only behind Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, who have racked up 3,630 and 2,434 runs respectively. Overall, England's JB Hobbs has scored 3,636, the most, runs against Australia in Tests and Tendulkar is second in the list.
