England vs India 2018: Virat Kohli eyeing Graham Gooch's world record in the fifth Test
Virat Kohli has already broken plenty of records so far in India's tour of England. Heading into the final Test at The Oval, he is on the verge of breaking one more. The Indian captain currently has 544 runs from the first four Tests and is 209 runs behind Graham Gooch, who holds the record for most runs by a captain in a Test series in England.
Graham Gooch, incidentally, set the record in 1990 against India in a three-match Test series when he scored 752 runs at an average of 125 with three centuries, including his career-best Test score of 333. The record has stood for 28 years and since then only one other captain has even managed to amass in excess of 700 runs in a Test series in England.
Kohli, who already has two centuries and three fifties in the ongoing Test series against England, already holds the Indian record for the most runs by a captain in a Test series in England. That record was set in the same series that Gooch set the overall mark. It was Mohammad Azharuddin's tally of 426 from the three-match Test series that was the national record until Kohli broke it during the third Test at Nottingham.
With one more Test to go, the 29-year-old needs at least another century if he is to break Gooch's 28-year-old record but considering the form that he is in, you wouldn't bet against him doing just that.
Even if he fails to beat the mark set by Gooch, he could go for Sir Garry Sobers' record of most runs by a visiting captain in a Test series in England. The West Indian all-rounder hit 722 runs from 5 matches in 1966 and has held the record for 52 years. Since then, only Graeme Smith has come close to breaking it and Kohli is currently 178 runs behind the mark.
Only four captains have scored in excess of 700 runs in a Test series in England. Even the legendary Sir Don Bradman has failed to achieve that feat. Gooch, who holds the world record along with David Gower, Sir Garry Sobers and Graeme Smith are the only four to have done it. Kohli needs another 156 runs to become only the fifth to achieve this feat.
Here is where Kohli currently stands on the list of most runs by a captain in a Test series in England:
1) Graham Gooch - 752 runs from 3 matches against India in 1990
2) David Gower - 732 runs from 6 matches against Australia in 1985
3) Sir Garry Sobers - 722 runs from 5 matches against England in 1966
4) Graeme Smith - 714 runs from 5 matches against England in 2003
5) Allan Border - 597 runs from 6 matches against England in 1985
6) Peter May - 582 runs from 5 matches against South Africa in 1955
7) Alan Melville - 569 runs from 5 matches against England in 1947
8) Virat Kohli - 544 runs from 4 matches against England in 2018
9) Sir Don Bradman - 508 runs from 5 matches against England in 1948
10) Stanley Jackson - 492 runs in 5 matches against Australia in 1905