5 milestones Virat Kohli can achieve in IND vs BAN Test series
Virat Kohli is all set to feature in the upcoming two-match home Test series against Bangladesh. The former Indian captain is a part of the squad that was announced for the series beginning on September 19, with the first Test to be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
The second Test will be played at Kanpur, starting on September 27. Virat last played a Test match in January earlier this year against South Africa. While India did play England in a five-match Test series, Virat opted out of the same, citing personal reasons.
Therefore, this series will mark his return to Test cricket after a considerable gap. Part of the World Test Championship, this will be a crucial series for the hosts and Virat Kohli will certainly have a key role to play as a senior member of the side.
As his return has been much awaited, there are several records that the star Indian batter could break over the course of the Bangladesh series. That said, the spotlight will be on Kohli as he could add more records to his already decorated and glorious career.
On that note, here are five milestones Virat Kohli can accomplish in the IND vs BAN Test series.
#5 Only active player to 12000 international runs at home
Among the many milestones that Virat can achieve in this series, one is that of scoring 12000 international runs at home across formats. What would make the record unique is that if he can get to the 12000-run mark, he will become the only active cricketer to have achieved the feat.
Sachin Tendulkar (14192), Ricky Ponting (13117), Jacques Kallis (12305), and Kumar Sangakkara (12043) are the other players on this list. Virat Kohli is just 11 runs away and could become only the fifth batter to touch the 12000 figure at home.
#4 Break Cheteshwar Pujara's record against Bangladesh
Veteran India batter Cheteshwar Pujara currently holds the record for the most runs scored in India vs Bangladesh Tests. Pujara is at the top with 468 runs to his name.
Behind him is Virat Kohli with 436 runs. Thus, he is just 32 runs away from becoming the highest run-getter in India vs Bangladesh Test matches. With Pujara not in the squad, it is very likely that Kohli will overtake him and become the new holder of this record.
#3 Surpass Sir Don Bradman's record
The legendary Sir Don Bradman, one of the finest players to have embraced the game, has scored 29 Test hundreds in his career.
Virat Kohli has shown his class by matching Sir Don Bradman and is currently on par with him, having scored 29 Test centuries. If Kohli can notch up another ton in this series, he will take his tally to 30 and surpass Bradman's record as well.
Kohli will potentially have two Tests and four innings to score a century and go past Sir Don Bradman in this series.
#2 152 runs away from 9000 Test runs
India's former skipper Virat Kohli has played 113 Tests so far in his career and has amassed 8848 runs. That said, he is close to breaching the 9000-run mark in Test cricket.
He just needs 152 more runs to reach 9000 Test runs. Fresh after returning from a break, Kohli is expected to tick off these runs in the two Tests and it should not prove to be too difficult of a task for him.
If Kohli manages to get to 9000 Test runs, he will also become only the fourth Indian after Sachin Tendulkar (15921), Rahul Dravid (13265) and Sunil Gavaskar (10122) to do so.
#1 58 runs away from 27000 international runs, break Sachin Tendulkar's record
Virat Kohli has the opportunity to break a key record set by the great Sachin Tendulkar himself. Kohli is just 58 runs shy of accumulating 27,000 runs in international cricket.
The 35-year-old has 26,942 runs to his name across formats at present and these runs have come in just 591 innings.
Sachin Tendulkar managed to get past the 27,000-run mark in 623 innings and became the fastest player to do so. Thus, Virat has plenty of innings and with just a 58-run deficit, he is expected to breach the mark in this series and break Sachin's record to become the fastest player to 27,000 international runs.