Despite the prolonged absence of a noteworthy big score in Test cricket, it’s difficult to keep India captain Virat Kohli away from the record books. Kohli on Thursday became the fastest to get to 23000 international runs. The Indian captain completed the milestone with a brilliant on-drive off his principal tormentor James Anderson on Day 1 of the India-England fourth Test match at The Oval.
Kohli reached 23000 international runs in just 490 innings, breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s long-standing record with some ease. Sachin had reached the landmark in 522 innings. The third quickest in the list is former Australia captain Ricky Ponting who had scored 23000 international runs in 544 innings followed by former South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis (in 551 innings).
The only other Indian apart from Kohli and Sachin to score more than 23000 international runs is Rahul Dravid. The former India captain had got it in 576 innings.
Kohli is only the seventh batsman in the history of international cricket to achieve the feat.
Kohli is also among the third-highest run-scorer across formats for India only behind Sachin Tendulkar (34357 runs) and Rahul Dravid (24208 runs).