India’s star batsman Virat Kohli returned to test cricket after a long time but with a lack of confidence. He recently began the test series against Bangladesh on a poor note by scoring just 23 runs in 2 innings by facing just 43 balls. After another dry performance in the opening test against Bangladesh in Chennai, his struggle against the spinners on Asian soil has been evident since 2021.
Especially in the 2nd innings, Kohli fell into Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s trap and faced an LBW dismissal. Despite having a DRS (Decision Review System), he didn’t use it and rather walked back to the dressing room by scoring just 17 runs. After his dismissal, once again the replay was viewed, where the Ultraedge showed a sharp spike when the ball came in contact with the bat. However, Virat would have been declared not out if he had asked for a review.
Before the start of the series, the entire cricketing world expected that Virat Kohli would easily score 54 runs to become the fastest cricketer to accomplish 27,000 runs in test cricket. Unfortunately, he managed to score only 23 runs and needs to wait for the next test match to score another 35 runs.
Despite, his lackluster performance, Virat Kohli managed to break Sachin Tendulkar’s record by becoming the fastest player to reach 12,000 international runs at home.
Recalling his stats since 2021, Kohli scored just 499 runs from 1094 balls in test cricket at an average of 27.72 and a strike rate of 45.61. He has been dismissed 18 times so far during this period.
Virat Kohli’s Score vs Bangladesh in 1st Test Match 2024
Batting at No.4 position, Virat Kohli struggled with his poor form in the first test at an average of 11.50 and strike rate of 53.49, and was able to accumulate these scores in both innings:
- 1st innings: 6 runs from 6 balls.
- 2nd innings: 17 runs from 37 balls (including 2 fours).
Virat Kohli Form in 2024 vs 2023
In 2024, Kohli played 15 international matches and scored 319 runs at an average of 18.76, which includes a half-century and no centuries. Contrarily, the 35-year-old batsman was in his peak form in 2023, scoring 2048 runs at an average of 66.06 by achieving 8 centuries and 10 half-centuries in 35 international games.
Virat Kohli leads the List of Fastest Players to Achieve 12,000 International Runs at Home
Here is the list of the top five fastest players who reached the 12,000-run milestone in their international cricket career, and you can find Virat Kohli at the leading position by surpassing Sachin’s record:
- Virat Kohli (INDIA): 243 innings.
- Sachin Tendulkar (INDIA): 267 innings.
- Kumar Sangakkara (SRI LANKA): 269 innings.
- Jacques Kallis (SOUTH AFRICA): 271 innings.
- Ricky Ponting (AUSTRALIA): 275 innings.
Even after a poor outing, Kohli managed to rank himself among these top five batters to score the most international runs at home:
- Sachin Tendulkar: 14,192 runs.
- Ricky Ponting: 13,117 runs.
- Jacques Kallis: 12,305 runs.
- Kumar Sangakkara: 12,043 runs.
- Virat Kohli: 12,000 runs and continues…
Crucial Milestones that Virat Kohli missed out against Bangladesh in 1st Test Match: Expectations vs Reality
Here is an in-depth comparison of the expectations fans had regarding Virat Kohli’s form and the reality that the cricketing world had to witness in the first test match against Bangladesh:
| S.No | Expectations before the series | Reality during 1st test match |
| 1. | Reach 9,000 runs in his test career to join Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, and Rahul Dravid in the list | Concluded with 8,871 runs and needs to wait for his next game to score another 129 runs. |
| 2. | Surpass Rahul Dravid’s record to rank as the second Indian with the most Player of the Match (POTM) awards in tests (11 POTM awards) | Remains at the 3rd position with 10 POTM awards along with other Indian cricketers such as Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Anil Kumble |
| 3. | Required 54 runs to become the fastest cricketer to achieve 27,000 international runs in less than 600 innings. | Scored just 23 runs and currently scored 26,965 in 593 innings. |
| 4. | Needed one century to surpass Australian legendary batsman Don Bradman’s record of 29 test hundreds. | Wasn’t able to score even a half-century in any of the two innings and stands with 29 centuries in his career. |
| 5. | Kohli with 437 test runs required just 32 runs to become the third-highest run scorer for India in tests against Bangladesh by overtaking Cheteshwar Pujara’s record (468 runs) | Scored only 23 runs (460 runs so far vs Bangladesh) and needs another 9 runs in the next test match to achieve this exceptional record. |
Overall Facts:
As the Indian cricket team is on a quest to win their maiden World Test Championship (WTC) title, they would be concerned about Virat Kohli getting back to his form. The upcoming 2nd test match against Bangladesh as well as the 3-match home test series against New Zealand and Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia will be crucial for India to secure its top position in the WTC points table.
As a result, Kohli would be keen to involve himself in more practice sessions. Not only it would help secure his spot as a key player in the squad but also give a perfect reply to the critics by achieving sensational records the entire cricketing world is eagerly waiting to watch in forthcoming matches