The India batter, Virat Kohli, added another feather to his highly illustrious cap as he marked 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 is the fourth Indian batsman to achieve the milestone; he trails Sachin Tendulkar, who has scored the most runs with 15,921 followed by Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar with 13,265 and 10,122. Of them, Kohli is the slowest to get to the milestone and took 197 innings.
The 35-year-old batter hasn't hit a Test fifty yet in 2024 and was merciless on New Zealand as India piled up 402 in the first innings.
Among active players, Kohli stands second only to England's Joe Root with 12,716 runs. Overall, he is at position 18.
Indeed, it was Glenn Phillips who finally ended Kohli's innings with 70, which had eight fours and a six, as India were at 231/3 at stumps on Day 3. Sarfaraz Khan is unbeaten on 70 as India trail by 125 runs after bundling out 46 in the first innings, their lowest total at home.
Kohli and Sarfaraz made a third-wicket stand of 136 runs to rescue the innings after Yashasvi Jaiswal (35) and India captain Rohit Sharma (52) fell.
Earlier, a brilliant 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 by taking three wickets each.
Ravindra 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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