Team India veteran Virat Kohli surpassed the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, and Sourav Ganguly among others for another massive record on Thursday (December 28). Virat Kohli became the first batter to amass 2000+ runs in a calendar year for the record seventh time.
- Batters with 2000+ runs in a year:
- Virat Kohli – 7*
- Kumar Sangakkara – 6
- Mahela Jayawardene – 5
- Sachin Tendulkar – 5
- Jacques Kallis – 4
- Matthew Hayden – 4
- Ricky Ponting – 4
- Sourav Ganguly – 4
Virat Kohli needed 66 runs
Before the IND vs SA 1st Test, Virat Kohli (1934) needed 66 runs to complete 2000 runs across formats in the year 2023. The right-handed batter played a knock of 38 runs in the first innings. As soon as he reached 28 runs in the second innings, the modern-day great secured another record under his belt.
Kohli also went on to slam his 30th Test fifty as the visitors are in all sorts of trouble in the IND vs SA 1st Test. During his knock, the right-handed batter stroked 7 fours and a maximum to reach the 50-run mark. Except Kohli, skipper Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill failed to get going against a quality bowling line-up of South Africa.