- Saturday, November 23, 2024
The ace India batter scored a fighting 76 in his final knock of 2023.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA’S Virat Kohli on Thursday (28) became the first batter in the history of cricket to complete 2,000 runs in seven different calendar years (Tests, one-day internationals and T20s combined). His feat, however, came on a day when India were hammered by South Africa by an innings and 32 runs in the first Test match at the SuperSport Park Cricket Stadium in Centurion. The 35-year-old remained the visiting side’s lone warrior with 76 runs off 82 balls as his team was bundled out for a paltry 131 in the second innings.
India, who are yet to win their first Test series on South African soil, were humbled in their final match of the year inside three days. For South Africa, Dean Elgar scored 185 while the deadly pace trio of Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and debutant Nandre Burger were too hot to handle for the India batters.
Kohli’s final knock of 2023 saw his tally of runs to 2006.
His previous 2,000-plus tallies came in 2012 (2,186 runs), 2014 (2,286), 2016 (2,595), 2017 (2,818), 2018 (2,735) and 2019 (2,455). No other player has achieved a similar feat since international cricket was first played in 1877, as per official record.
Kohli recently slammed 751 runs in the 50-over World Cup at home, finishing as the highest run-getter in the tournament.
Shubman Gill was the other India batter to complete 2,000-plus runs in 2023. He finished on 2,154 runs in 48 matches across three formats.
Former India captain Sachin Tendulkar, who has the most number of international runs, has scored 2,000-plus runs in five different calendar years.
