Virat Kohli needs 53 runs to join Sachin, Gavaskar in elite club in 1st Test vs New Zealand | Cricket News

Team India batter Virat Kohli is 53 runs away from joining the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar in an elite list of batters in the 1st Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru.

Virat Kohli is 53 runs away from achieving another milestone in his Test career. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Team India star Virat Kohli is on the cusp of joining the likes of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar in an elite club of Indian batters in the ongoing 1st Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru. The Day 1 of the Test match was washed out without a ball being bowled due to rain on Wednesday, October 16.

While the rain threat looms large on Day 2, the two teams will be hoping for the action to begin on Thursday. Kohli will be eyeing a huge milestone for India as he stands just 53 runs away from completing 9,000 runs in Test cricket. The senior India batter will become only the 4th Indian to reach the milestone, joining the likes of Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar in an elite list.

Kohli currently has 8,947 runs in 115 Tests at an average of 48.89, including 29 centuries and 30 fifties. He is 4th on the list of the highest run-getters of all time for India in Tests. Sachin leads the elite list with 15,921 runs from 200 matches and is followed by Dravid, who amassed 13,265 runs in 163 matches in his Test career. The Master Blaster is also the leading run-getter in Test history.

Most runs for India in Tests:

Sachin Tendulkar – 15,921 runs

Rahul Dravid – 13,265 runs

Sunil Gavaskar – 10,122 runs

Virat Kohli – 8,947 runs

Kohli has not been in the best of form in Test cricket for a while now and will be hoping to spark a turnaround in the ongoing series against New Zealand. The senior India batter has played only three Tests in 2024 so far but is yet to score a half-century this year. He has 157 runs in the three matches with the highest score of 47 which came in the recently concluded two-match series against Bangladesh.

Virat Kohli aims to bounce back among the runs

Kohli will be hopping to bounce back among the runs in the ongoing series against New Zealand and get some big knocks behind his back ahead of India’s all-important tour of Australia later this year. Kohli will continue to bat at no.3 for the hosts and has a great chance of regaining his rhythm against a nervy New Zealand, who are heading into the series on the back of a 2-0 series loss against Sri Lanka.

Abhishek reports on all things sports for News9. He has been covering cricket extensively for more than five years now and is a keen follower of the game. From preserving newspaper cuts of his favourite sporting heroes to playing the game himself and then covering it from close quarters, cricket has stayed with him since childhood. He started his career with NewsX and has worked for some of the leading news organisations in the country, including Times Now and WION. He will probably be busy watching cricket/football when not crafting stories on sports and its heroes.

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