Indian skipper Virat Kohli has set high standards with the bat and has now become the third Indian to score 1,000 runs on foreign soil in one calendar year after greats like Mohinder Amarnath and Rahul Dravid. He is interestingly the third captain after Bob Simpson and Graeme Smith to achieve this feat.
This achievement of his thus caps off what has been a spectacular year for him where he has starred with the bat in the tours of England and South Africa.
Kohli achieved this batting record when he reached 84 runs on the third day of the second Test. The 30-year old now is the 11th batsman to achieve the mark.
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The other players to have scored 1,000 runs in overseas conditions in a calendar year are Bob Simpson (Australia), Vivian Richards (West Indies), Mohinder Amarnath (India), Rahul Dravid (India), Neil McKenzie (South Africa), Graeme Smith (South Africa), Alastair Cook (England), Hashim Amla (South Arica), Younis Khan (Pakistan), Azhar Ali (Pakistan) and Virat Kohli (India).
Kohli also continued with his exploits against Australia in Australia wherein he scored a hundred–his 25th in Test cricket and sixth Down Under. His classy innings of 123 helped India accumulate 283 runs in their first innings as they fell short of the Australian effort of 326 runs.
He had steadied India’s ship on the second day as he and deputy Ajinkya Rahane battled it out and prevented the batting from falling apart–helping the team end with 172/3 at the end of the day’s play.