File image of Virat Kohli.© BCCI/Sportzpics
India batting stalwart Virat Kohli is set to become only the third Indian to achieve an exceptional feat. If Kohli plays and bats in the third Test against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium, he will follow in the footsteps of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid and become only the third-ever Indian cricketer to bat 600 innings across all formats of international cricket. Kohli is currently on 599 innings, having played 199 in Tests, 283 in ODIs and 117 in T20Is for India.
Sachin Tendulkar tops not only the list of Indian cricketers with the most innings played but also the list among any cricketer ever, having batted 782 innings. Mahela Jayawardene (725) and Ricky Ponting (668) round out the top three. Kohli will become the seventh batter in the history of cricket to notch up 600 innings.
Kohli has endured a rough patch in Test cricket in 2024. In five Tests in the calendar year, Kohli has managed only 245 runs at an average of 27.22, with only one fifty.
Following the news that Kohli will be retained by his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for a whopping Rs 21 crore, Kohli will hope to prove his class in the final Test against New Zealand.
The third Test against New Zealand will be India’s final Test ahead of the marathon five-Test series against Australia in Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India come into this game in poor form, having lost a home Test series for the first time in more than 12 years.
Kohli has managed only 88 runs in four innings during the series. Apart from a score of 70 in the second innings of the first Test, Kohli has scored only 18 runs in three outings. He was a part of the batting order collapse that led to India being bowled out for 46 in the first innings of the first Test.
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