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.
