‘King’ Kohli becomes sixth and fastest batter to score 25,000 runs across formats, beats Tendulkar

Virat Kohli is seen during the Test against Australia.
| Photo Credit: V.V. Krishnan

Virat Kohli added another feather in his cap on Sunday as he became the sixth and the fastest batter in the world to score 25,000 runs across formats during the second Test against Australia, which India won by six wickets, in New Delhi.

Kohli achieved the feat when he reached 8 during India’s run chase of 115 as he flicked Nathan Lyon for a boundary in the 12th over in the second innings. He had come into his 492nd match overall with 52 runs needed to reach the milestone. He made 44 in India’s first innings and was out for 20 in the second essay to end at 25012 runs.

“Milestone Unlocked. Congratulations @imVkohli on reaching 25000 runs in international cricket! Simply sensational,” the BCCI tweeted.

“… And heartiest congratulations to @imVkohli on becoming the fastest to get to 25000 international runs,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in his tweet to congratulate the team for winning the Tests.

The other stalwarts to have scored more than 25,000 runs across formats are Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar (34357 from 664 matches), Sri Lankans Kumar Sangakkara (28016 from 594 matches) and Mahela Jayawardene (25957 from 652 matches), Australian Ricky Ponting (27483 from 560 matches) and South African Jacques Kallis (25534 from 519 matches).

The 34-year-old Kohli, who made his India debut in 2008, reached the milestone in his 549th innings, the least among the six batters. Tendulkar had taken 577 innings to reach the 25000-run mark while Ponting did it in 588 innings.

Kohi also has a 53-plus average while making the 25000-plus runs, the highest among the members of the exclusive club with Kallis second at 49.10.

Kohli has 8195 runs from 106 Tests, 12809 from 271 ODIs and 4008 from 115 T20Is.