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Since making his Test debut for India in 2011, Kohli has played 13 Tests in Australia and has scored 1352 runs with the help of six centuries.
Virat Kohli needs one century to break record of most Test centuries by an Indian in Australia. (Picture Credit: AFP)
Virat Kohli will be a key player for India in the five-match Test series against Australia, which is set to start on November 22 in Perth. During the 2024-25 edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the 36-year-old right-handed batter will have a chance to break multiple batting records.
If Kohli manages to score at least one century in the next five matches, he will overtake Sachin Tendulkar and top the list of Indian batters with the most Test centuries in Australia.
During his more than two-decade-long Test career, Tendulkar played 20 red-ball matches in Australia and scored six centuries. Kohli also has six centuries to his name, but in 13 matches.
The overall record of scoring most Test centuries by a visiting batter in Australia is in the name of Jack Hobbs, who during his playing days scored nine centuries in 24 matches for England.
If Kohli manages to score a couple of centuries in 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, then he will break former Australian captain Ricky Ponting’s record of scoring most centuries in India-Australia Test matches played on Australian soil. Ponting finished his career with seven centuries in 15 Tests played against India in Australia.
With 2042 runs to his name in 25 Tests played so far, Kohli is India’s fifth-leading run scorer in the five-day format of the game against the Baggy Greens. But during the upcoming series, he will have a chance to climb up and take the No. 2 position. He needs 393 runs to go past VVS Laxman’s tally.
During his playing days, Laxman featured in 29 Test matches against Australia and scored 2434 runs. The overall record of scoring most runs in India-Australia Test matches is in the name of Sachin Tendulkar, who amassed a total of 3630 runs in 39 matches.
Kohli, who became the first Indian captain to win a Test series in Australia during India’s tour Down Under in 2018-19, will also have a chance to become the first Indian batter to score 3000 runs in the World Test Championship (WTC). As of now, he has 2427 runs to his name in 41 matches played so far, and he needs 573 more runs to cross the 3000-mark.
As of now, only four batters—Joe Root (5325), Marnus Labuschagne (3904), Steve Smith (3486) and Ben Stokes (3154)—have managed to score more than 3000 runs in the World Test Championship.
