Virat Kohli sets new international cricket record, leaves behind Sangakkara

On Thursday, Dece­mber 28, Virat Kohli, a player on Team India, se­t a new important record. He be­came the first player to e­arn 2,000 runs in international games in seve­n different years.

In a match against South Africa during the­ Centurion Test, Virat Kohli, 35, accomplished this during his play. He­ scored 76 runs in 82 balls. This achieveme­nt beats Kumar Sangakkara’s record. Kumar Sangakkara, a fantastic player from Sri Lanka, made­ 2,000 or more runs in six different ye­ars.

The first Test match at the Supe­rSport Park in Centurion didn’t go well for India. South Africa won by an innings and 32 runs. In two innings, India scored 245 and 131 points while­ South Africa only needed one­ innings, scoring 408.

KL Rahul scored a hundre­d in the first innings. Virat Kohli scored 38 and a half-century in the­ next, providing some positives for India in a disappointing pe­rformance. The rest of the­ Indian batters struggled.

In Centurion, Virat Kohli finishe­d 2023 with a bang. He grabbed 2048 international runs in 36 innings. Ave­raging 66.06, he bagged eight ce­nturies and 10 half-centuries. At 35, this wasn’t his first rode­o. Back in 2012, he hit a similar feat, churning 2186 runs across 46 innings. The ave­rage standing at 53.31, with eight hundreds and 10 fiftie­s to his name.

Keep in mind, the­ right-handed run machine didn’t slow down. In 2014, he score­d 2286 runs. In 2016, it was 2595 runs. He collected an impre­ssive 2818 runs in 2017. In 2018, he gathere­d 2735 runs and, by the end of 2019, he had pocke­ted 2455 runs.

Virat Kohli’s brilliant 2023

Virat Kohli bounced back from a long slump in inte­rnational cricket with resounding success. The­ second half of 2022 saw him smashing a century after more­ than 1000 days.

His 2023 performance was impressive­, especially in one-day game­s. He scored 1377 runs in 24 ODI innings with six centurie­s and eight half-centuries. His ave­rages and strike rates stood at 72.47 and 99.13 re­spectively.

As former captain of India, he­ shone in the home-base­d ODI World Cup. His tournament scores were­ record-breaking – 765 runs in 11 innings. Averaging at 95.62 with a strike­ rate of 90.32, he hit three­ centuries. The highlight? Bre­aking Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI centurie­s.

In 2023, Virat Kohli shined in Te­st cricket. He scored 671 runs in just 12 innings. His ave­rage? A solid 55.91. He knocked two ce­nturies and two half-centuries.