Virat Kohli becomes the fastest Indian batsman to score 1000 Test runs in Australia
What's the story?
Indian skipper Virat Kohli achieved yet another milestone in his illustrious career by becoming the fastest Indian batsman to reach 1000 Test runs in Australia during India's second innings in the first Test match at the Adelaide Oval.
The Background
The first of the four-Test match series against Australia began at Adelaide on December 6. With the venue being one of his favourite hunting grounds, Kohli, the highest run-getter of this year (2018), was expected to dominate the Aussie bowlers in the first innings after he opted to bat first on winning the toss.
The Indian fans, who were expecting that his impressive form will continue in Adelaide as well, were disappointed as he was dismissed for just three runs in India's first innings. Usman Khawaja took a spectacular catch off Pat Cummins to dismiss the skipper Kohli very early in the Indian innings.
However, on the back of Cheteashwar Pujara's valiant century (123 off 246 balls), India posted a decent total of 250 runs on the board. In reply, Tim Paine's men managed 235 runs largely contributed by Travis Head who knew the conditions at the Adelaide Oval very well. India, who started-off their second innings on day three with a 15-run lead, lost Murali Vijay for just 18.
The heart of the matter
The opener, KL Rahul who hasn't performed well with the bat in the recent past, added valuable runs (44 off 67) at the top, helping the team extend its lead. After his dismissal, Virat Kohli joined Cheteshwar Pujara in the middle.
During his knock of 34 (104 balls), which comprised of three boundaries, Kohli became the fourth Indian batsman to score 1000 runs in Australia thereby joining Sachin Tendulkar (1809 runs), VVS Laxman (1236 runs) and Rahul Dravid (1143) on the elite list.
In the process, he also became the fastest Indian to score 1000 runs on the Australian soil as he achieved the feat in just 18 innings. The flamboyant batsman also completed 2000 Test runs in away matches as a skipper- a feat which no other Indian batsman has ever achieved.
What's next?
For Virat Kohli, breaking records has never been a daunting task given his batting credentials and calibre. With two more Test matches to go (this year and three in this series), he is sure to break more and more Test match records!