Virat Kohli, a cornerstone of India’s batting line-up, has passed famous opener Virender Sehwag to rank fifth among Indian scorers of runs in Test matches. During the first Test currently being played at Windsor Park in Dominica versus the West Indies, the former India captain reached another key career milestone.
Sehwag had a phenomenal 12-year Test career, scoring 8503 runs in 103 Test matches. Virat Kohli broke that record. In order to surpass the former cricketer’s record, the 34-year-old batsman, who was taking part in his 110th Test, merely needed 25 runs. In the game’s longest format, he has already amassed a total of 8515 runs.
Now that some of the most famous names have participated in the game, Kohli finds himself in exclusive company. Rahul Dravid is the second-highest scorer on the list after Sachin Tendulkar, who amassed an incredible 15,921 runs during his illustrious Test career. With 10,122 runs, Sunil Gavaskar, the first player in red-ball cricket to reach that milestone, is in third place. VVS Laxman, known for his deft stroke play, is in fourth place with 8,781 runs.
The Kingston-born player, who was born in Delhi, immediately became a mainstay in the Indian batting order after making his Test debut against the West Indies there in 2011. Kohli has over 8,000 test run totals with an average of 48.72 and a strike rate of 55.34. He has also scored 28 hundreds and 28 fifties. His unbroken 254* against South Africa in 2019 is also the latter’s best red-ball cricket score.
Jaiswal finishes Day 2 unbeaten at 143, as India finishes at 312/.
Regarding the ongoing first Test, India was able to pull away from the West Indies on Day 2 by a significant margin owing to openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma’s (103), who both scored outstanding centuries. The tourists are 312/2 at Stumps on Day 2, taking a lead of 162 runs thanks to a record-breaking opening partnership between the openers. Jaiswal (143*) and Virat Kohli (36*) are at the crease. Thanks to Ravichandran Ashwin’s five-wicket haul, India previously dismissed Kraigg Brathwaite and company by 150 runs.