NEW DELHI: The boundary he hit off Sri Lanka's Suranga Lakmal took his team to 134. But with it, Virat Kohli got to yet another milestone. He became the 11th Indian to score 5000 runs in Test matches.
The crowd watching the third Test between India and Sri Lanka at Delhi's Ferozeshah Kotla rose to celebrate the achievement of the local boy.
5000 and counting... #KingKohli @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/Mn2uRCzad7
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 2, 2017
Kohli has taken 105 innings to get to the landmark. Only three Indian batsmen have got to the 5000-mark sooner - Sunil Gavaskar (95), Virender Sehwag (98) and Sachin Tendulkar (103).
Quickest to 5000 Test runs for India
inns
95 Sunil Gavaskar
98 Virender Sehwag
103 Sachin Tendulkar
105 Virat Kohli#IndvSL— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) December 2, 2017
Kohli tied with England captain Joe Root among the crop of batsman on the number of innings to get to 5000. Only Australian Steve Smith who achieved the milestone in 97 innings has done it quicker than Kohli among the current batsmen. For reference, South African Hashim Amla took 109 innings while New Zealander Kane Williamson took 110.
Kohli came in when India were 78 for 2. His 5000 mark came as he partnered with Murali Vijay to steady the Indian innings, both batsmen getting to their 50s in the process.
Cricket fans quickly took to Twitter to heap praise on Kohli, with the hashtag #KingKohli.
Congrats champ on 16k International Run's????????? Fastest To Reach 16000 runs in international cricket ????????@imVkohli #runmachine #kingkohli #proud
— H?®?hÌk? (@Harshika6311052) December 2, 2017
