Bengaluru: India batter Virat Kohli has added another feather to his highly illustrious cap as he completed 9,000 Test runs in the ongoing match against New Zealand at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. He reached the milestone during India’s second innings.
Kohli’s feat of reaching 9,000 Test runs places him in the esteemed company of Sachin Tendulkar (15,921), Rahul Dravid (13,265) and Sunil Gavaskar (10,122), making him the fourth Indian to achieve this milestone. However, he is the slowest among them to reach this milestone in terms of innings taken (197).
Despite the pressure from New Zealand’s strong performance, the 35-year-old batter, who has not hit a Test fifty in 2024, showed his resilience by smashing his 31st Test half-century as India was put under pressure after posting 402 in the first innings.
Kohli is the second-highest Test run-getter among active players after England’s Joe Root (12,716 runs). In the overall list, he is placed in 18th spot.
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Glenn Phillips finally ended Kohli’s innings for 70, which included eight fours and a six, as India was 231/3 at the stumps on Day 3. Sarfaraz Khan is unbeaten on 70 as India trails by 125 runs after bundling out 46 in the first innings, their lowest total at home.
Kohli and Sarfaraz demonstrated the power of teamwork with their 136-run partnership for the third wicket, stabilising the innings after the wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal (35) and India captain Rohit Sharma (52).
Earlier, an excellent 134 from Rachin Ravindra – his second Test century – helped New Zealand take a lead of 356 runs after their first innings ended at 402 in 91.3 overs. For India, spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav were the pick of the bowlers, taking three wickets each.
Ravindra’s century was a thrilling performance, as he dazzled to hit 13 fours and four sixes in his 157-ball knock, yielding his second international hundred in Bengaluru, the city of his family’s origin. He also added a crucial 137 runs for the eighth wicket with Tim Southee, who hit 65 off 73 balls. It’s now the joint-highest eighth-wicket partnership for New Zealand in Tests against India.
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–IANS
File Photo: IANS/Biplab Banerjee
