India will face New Zealand in the first Test of the three-match series from Wednesday (October 16) onwards. The series opener is scheduled to take place at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. In the first match of the India-New Zealand Test series, former Indian captain Virat Kohli will have a chance to join legendary Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar in an elite list.
Kohli, who has 8947 runs to his name in 115 Tests played so far, needs 53 runs in the series opener to become the fourth Indian batter after Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Gavaskar to score 9000 or more runs in Test cricket.
Tendulkar, who retired from international cricket in 2013, holds the record for scoring most runs for India in Tests. He finished his career with 15,921 runs in 200 Tests. Dravid is second on the list with 13,265 runs in 163 Tests for India and is followed by Gavaskar, who amassed a total of 10,122 runs in 125 Tests.
Most runs for India in Tests
- Sachin Tendulkar – 15921
- Rahul Dravid – 13265
- Sunil Gavaskar – 10122
- Virat Kohli – 8947
- VVS Laxman – 8781
Apart from becoming the fourth Indian cricketer to score 9000 runs in Tests, Kohli will also have a chance to become the third Indian batter after Dravid and Tendulkar to score 1000 runs in Tests against New Zealand.
As of now, the Delhi-born cricketer, who made his Test debut in June 2011, has 866 runs to his name in 11 matches. A total of four Indian batters—Dravid, Sachin, Virender Sehwag, and Cheteshwar Pujara—have scored more runs against Black Caps in Tests than him.
Most runs for India in Tests vs New Zealand
- Rahul Dravid – 1659
- Sachin Tendulkar – 1595
- Virender Sehwag – 883
- Cheteshwar Pujara – 867
- Virat Kohli – 866
Kohli needs 134 runs to join the 1000-run mark, and if he manages to do so, then he will also break Pujara and Sehwag’s records of 867 and 883 runs, respectively.
Kohli has struggled to score big runs in 2024, and in 16 matches played so far across formats, he has managed to cross the 50-run mark only once. The right-handed batter will be desperate to come up with a much improved show in the home series against the Black Caps and help the Rohit Sharma-led side whitewash the Tom Latham-led side in his first series as full-time captain of the New Zealand Test cricket team.
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