The star hitter accomplished the feat in the third T20I against Australia in Hyderabad.
In the match, ‘Chase Master’ Kohli was in full swing, going from attacker to anchor, anchor to attacker at will. He hit 63 runs on 48 balls, consisting of three fours and four sixes. His strike rate was also pretty solid at 131.25.
Now Kohli has a total of 24,078 runs in 471 games over 525 innings at an average of 53.62. His best individual cricket score is 254*. 71 centuries came from his bat with 125 half centuries.
He overtook Indian great Rahul Dravid, who scored 24,064 international runs for the Indian cricket team. Although Dravid’s total international cricket runs stand at 24,208, the rest of his 144 runs were scored as part of teams like Asia XI, ICC World XI.
The best race marker for Team India in international cricket is none other than Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar. In 664 games over 782 innings, Tendulkar scored 34,357 runs averaging 48.52. 100 centuries and 164 half centuries came out of his bat, with the best score of 248*.
These hitters are followed by former skipper Sourav Ganguly (18,433), MS Dhoni (17,092) and Virender Sehwag (16,892).
Coming to the third T20I against Australia, the Australian visitors posted 186/7 in their 20 overs. Cameron Green (52 on 21 balls) helped them get off to an explosive start.
But after that spinners Yuzvendra Chahal (1/22) and Axar Patel (3/33) helped the Men in Blue to a comeback, limiting the Australians’ running flow and leaving them struggling at 117/6 in 13 .5 overs.
Then a 68-point stand between Tim David (54) and Daniel Sams (28*) helped the visitors to 186/7 in their 20 overs. Axar was India’s star with the ball and continued his strong run in the series. Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel also got one wicket each.
In pursuit of 187, the Indian team lost openings KL Rahul (1) and skipper Rohit Sharma (17) quickly, leaving them struggling at 2/30. Then Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav sewed up a quick stand of 104 runs on 62 balls, with Yadav crushing the Australians all over the park and Virat anchoring the innings after scoring a few quick runs in his first 20 balls.
Yadav’s dismissal for 69 of 36 to Josh Hazlewood broke the bar. After that, Virat brought up his half-century and looked to finish the game, but was caught by skipper Aaron Finch on a delivery from Sams for a well-done 63 from 48. Hardik Pandya (25* on 16 balls) finished the game for India with a four, with one ball to spare. The Indian team finished their innings at 187/4, winning the game by six wickets.
Sams (2/33) played well for the Australians. Hazlewood and Pat Cummins also took one wicket apiece.
Suryakumar Yadav was named “Man of the Match” for his fiftieth birthday.