IND VS NZ: Virat Kohli Completed 9000 Test Runs To Join The Elite Club

The former Indian captain VIRAT KOHLI added another milestone to his career by reaching the 9000-run mark in the longest format of the game. He achieved this feat  during his 70-run knock against New Zealand in the second innings of the opening match of the series.

India were earlier shot out for 46, which is their lowest total in India. The Kiwis gave a strong reply of 402 led by a superb hundred by Rachin Ravindra. Kohli took his time to get settled on the crease and then started to counter attack. He was under pressure at No. 3 but made a good comeback after the first innings duck.

Virat at No 3

In the first innings of the opening match against New Zealand at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Virat Kohli came to bat at No. 3 for the first time in eight years, he fell for a nine-ball duck in the previous innings.

Kohli became the fourth Indian batter to cross the 9000-run mark in Tests, joining the elite club with the greats like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar. However, he is the slowest to reach the milestone in 197 innings.

The former skipper surpassed Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s 535 caps in his 536th match for India in Bengaluru, making him the second-most capped Indian player after Tendulkar’s 664th.

Big relief for India as Kohli returned in the form

Earlier, in the series against Bangladesh, the former skipper also became the fastest player to reach 27,000 international runs by achieving the feat in just 594 innings.

India made a solid comeback after a dramatic collapse in the first innings with Rohit Sharma’s attacking knock setting the tone for the innings. Despite his unlucky dismissal soon after the batter’s half century, Kohli, alongside Sarfaraz, kept the scoreboard ticking, with the latter producing an array of attacking strokes to keep the Kiwis on backfoot.

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