Guwahati: Virat Kohli on Thursday became the fastest batsman to get to 23,000 international runs as he broke legendary Sachin Tendulkar record by achieving the landmark in 490 innings, 32 fewer than the former India captain.
Virat Kohli needed just one run to get to the milestone and he did so with a stunning on-drive against his nemesis James Anderson on Day 1 of the 4th Test between India and England at the Oval in London.
Kohli had the figures of 7672 runs in Tests, 12169 in ODIs, and 3159 in T20 Internationals before the match. Kohli needed just one run before the game to hold the record, the Indian skipper landed across his crease, and using his wrists beautifully, guided a James Anderson ball to clear the boundary past mid-on to get off the mark.
Ahead of the fourth Test, Kohli had scored 124 runs from five innings at an average of 24.8 with his best score of 55 came in his last innings at Headingley in the third Test. However, the Indian batsman is under extreme pressure to score an international hundred, which has eluded him for nearly two years.
Virat Kohli’s struggles against England bowlers
There have been a lot of talks around Kohli’s body movement and footwork with every single expert explains their different theory for the Indian captain’s dismissal, mostly through nick, against the England bowlers.
Kohli was twice dismissed by both James Anderson and Ollie Robinson with all-rounder Sam Curran got the better of him at Lord’s. He has been prey to England bowlers’ deliveries that pitch just outside the off-stump, which forces the batsman to push the ball but ends up inducing an edge.
Kohli also holds the record of being the fastest player to reach 8000, 9000, 10000, 11000, and 12000 ODI runs, where most of the records were held by Tendulkar himself.
