If Michael Hussey was known as Mr.cricket in the 2000s and early 2010s till his retirement. However, it wouldn't be wrong to give Virat Kohli the title at present. The Indian captain is the greatest of all batsmen of the modern era, having adopted a penchant for scoring runs no matter the format. Kohli is especially unstoppable run-machine when it comes to One-day internationals and Test Cricket.

While his debut and a few successive years was not a fruitful one, Virat Kohli stuck to his work ethics, fitness, and commitment to become the batsman he is today. He is leading the chart of Most international runs his debut with 22937 runs in his name. Since 2008 till now, the 32-year old has 22937 runs across versions in 437 international fixtures. It also consists of 70 centuries of which 43 have arrived in One-day internationals. Yet, there were few other players, who dared to come close to Kohli, but fell well short.

Read Also : Most Wins As Captain In Test: Virat Goes Past Clive Lloyd

However, Let's take a look at the top five players with the most International runs since Kohli's debut.

#1 Virat Kohli | 22937 runs | India

 Indian Skipper Virat Kohli made his debut for India in 2008. Although, He was handed the Test cap in July 2011 in West Indies. He played numerous heart-warming knocks in the next few years and became a force to be reckoned with in world cricket. Kohli also scored in SENA countries and returned with positive numbers. He becomes India's Test Captain after the retirement of MS. Dhoni in 2014. Moreover, Kohli is leading the charts. Virat Kohli has scored a huge 22937 runs in his carrier from 2008 to till now & counting. Moreover, he scored 70 centuries in across all formats. He is just bend of the Legend of the game Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 100 centuries across formats.

#2 Hashim Amla | 16776 runs | South Africa

As much calmness Hashim Amla possesses on a cricket field, that is as much class he boasts in his gameplay. It is safe to say that Hashim Amla stands second to all-rounder Jacques Kallis in terms of greatness and run-scoring. Amla is the fastest batsman to get to 2000, 3000, 4000, and 5000 runs in ODI cricket. He made his international debut in 2004. However, Since Virat Kohli's debut, he scored 16776 runs in 349 matches during 2008-2019. From 2008-2019, the 38-year old also clobbered 50 out of his total 55 centuries. Amla is also the only South African batsman to score a triple-hundred in Test cricket.

Also Read : 'Who Is Best?' Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma Fans Rage Supremacy Battle Based On ICC Test Rankings

#3 Joe Root | 16102 runs | England

England Test Skipper Joe Root makes his debut for England in 2012. Since making his debut, he has hit 38 centuries across formats. He is already became a Legend of the Test format. Joe Root completed 9000 Test runs for England on 13th August during the ongoing second Test against India. With that, he became only the second English player to reach the landmark after Alastair Cook. Since Virat Kohli's debut, Joe Root scored 16102 runs in 291 matches across all formats for England. Only Alastair Cook has scored more runs than Joe Root for England in Test Cricket. With so many years of cricket left in him, one could expect the England skipper to become England's highest run-scorer in Tests.

#4 Ross Taylor | 16082 runs | New Zealand

If there was ever a player, who remained in the shadow throughout his career, it is Ross Taylor. Ross Taylor followed the footsteps of his ancestors and gradually took over as the leading run-getter in Tests and ODIs for New Zealand. Taylor has also become the most reliable batsman for his nation, having debuted in 2006. Since 2008. Since Virat Kohli's debut, the 37-year old has accumulated 16082 runs in 443 fixtures across formats. Out of 40 centuries in his career, 36 have arrived from 2008 to the present year. The Wellington-born batsman has also played in three World Cup finals. Although, he was unable to win the first two World Cups. But, finally he tastes the joy of a World Cup victory in World Test Championship last June.

#5 Kane Williamson | 15208 runs | New Zealand

New Zealand Skipper Kane Williamson makes his debut for New Zealand in 2010 against India. Kane Williamson has scored the most runs for New Zealand and fifth-most number of runs in Test Cricket since Virat Kohli's debut. Williamson has been the backbone of New Zealand's batting lineup. He has played numerous match-winning knocks for his team. Since Virat Kohli's debut, Williamson scored 15208 runs in 303 fixtures across formats. He is currently the second-highest run-scorer for New Zealand in Test Cricket.

N.B : The stats are accurate as of 23/08/2021

On this day, exactly 10 years ago, Virat Kohli was given the captaincy of the Indian Test team. He took over the responsibility of captaining the Indian Test team after Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Kohli captained the Indian Test team for almost 8 years, and Rohit Sharma has been leading India in Test cricket since 2022.

Also Read: Virat Kohl's scores in last 10 Test innings

Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni are the captains who have won the ICC trophy for India. On the other side, Virat Kohli could never win an ICC tournament as captain. However, when the discussion is about Test cricket, as a leader he appears miles ahead of both Dhoni and Rohit.

On this day, let us know what heights he touched in red-ball cricket and why Kohli's legacy as Test captain remains an example even today.

India lost only 17 tests under Virat's captaincy

Under Kohli's captaincy, Team India played 68 Tests, out of which it won 40 and lost 17 matches. Whereas 11 tests ended in a draw. In this way, Virat Kohli's tenure as Test captain was very successful. Kohli has been the most successful Indian Test captain.

Kohli also performed brilliantly as a batsman, especially on the pitches of countries like Australia, South Africa, England, and New Zealand.

Kohli's legacy as Test captain on Indian soil

Virat Kohli took over the Test captaincy in late 2014 and led the team in 31 home Tests. Under his leadership, India emerged victorious in 24 matches, while suffering only 2 losses, one against Australia and another against England.

India won the test series in Australia for the first time

In the year 2018-19, Team India had to go to Australia to play the Border Gavaskar Trophy, no one expected that the Team would do anything special on this tour. But, Virat had his eyes only on the trophy. 

Kohli led India to a 2-1 victory in this series with his attacking captaincy. In which the victories in Adelaide and Melbourne were historic, and Virat also became the first Indian and Asian captain to win a Test series in Australia.

Also Read: Top 5 Records of Virat Kohli that might never be broken

Virat Kohli's records in Test cricket

Currently, Kohli is playing in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. He has played 120 Test matches so far, in which he has scored 9163 runs in 205 innings at an average of 47.72. During this period he has also scored 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries. His highest score in Test cricket has been 254* runs.

Virat Kohli’s unusual dismissal in the Australia vs India 2nd Test in Adelaide has raised concerns over his current form. This year has been challenging for him. Virat scored a brilliant century (100* off 143) in the Perth Test, he scored his last Test half-century (70) against New Zealand in October 2024 in the first Test of the home series. But apart from these knocks, he has endured a disappointing season so far.

Also Read: Rohit Sharma's scores in last 10 Test innings

In the Perth Test, Virat Kohli scored a century after a long time. After this, the fans were hopeful that Kohli would continue his form in Adelaide also, but he proved to be a flop in front of the pink ball. Virat Kohli had scored only 7 and 11 runs in the first and second innings of the Adelaide Test respectively.

Notably, Virat Kohli's figures at the Adelaide Oval ground are quite impressive, but this time Virat's bat remained quiet in Adelaide. Kohli scored only 18 runs in both the innings of this match, which is Kohli's lowest score in a Test match in Australia in the last 12 years. That means he had scored more than 18 runs in every test match played in Australia in the last 12 years. Due to this poor performance, Kohli's average in Test cricket has also declined. Virat's average in Tests is now 47.72. Before this match, his average was 48.13.

To evaluate King Kohli's performance, it’s important to examine Virat Kohli's scores in the last 10 Test innings and analyze what the statistics reveal.

Virat Kohl's scores | Last 10 innings

In the last 10 innings, Virat Kohli's scores have been 7, 11, 5, 100*, 4, 1, 1, 17, 0, and 70.  Virat is under pressure to prove once again that he is India’s top batter across all formats. He needs to convert his starts into substantial knocks to improve his low Test average this year.

Also Read: Most five-wicket hauls amongst left-arm pacers in Tests

Virat Kohli's Test Career

Virat Kohli has played 120 matches so far in his Test career and has scored 9,163 runs, with an average of 47.72. Kohli has hit 1022 fours and 30 sixes in his Test career.

Kohli has scored 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries with his bat in the longest format. His best score has been 254* and he has scored the most runs (2,165) in his Test career against Australia.

Australia has taken a huge lead of 157 runs over India by scoring 337 runs in its first innings on the second day of the second Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. For Australia, Travis Head scored a brilliant 140 runs, while Marnus Labuschagne made an important contribution of 64 runs. From India, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj bowled brilliantly and took four wickets each. Both of them together took 8 wickets in their name.

Also Read: Rohit Sharma's scores in last 10 Test innings

India won the toss and elected to bat first, which backfired as Mitchell Starc turned into a monster with the pink ball and ran through India's batting line-up. India were bowled out for 180 runs and Starc picked up six wickets to his name. Australia, however, looked the opposite of India with the bat as they seemed untroubled by Indian bowlers. 

Travis Head's aggressive century

With Travis Head's aggressive century, Australia took a huge lead of 152 runs over India by scoring 332 runs for eight wickets till the dinner break in its first innings on Saturday, the second day of the second Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Head, who opened his account with a brilliant four against Jasprit Bumrah (four wickets for 59 runs) on the second day of the day-night Test match, completed the eighth century of his Test career in 111 balls. Mohammad Siraj gave him life by taking a catch on Ashwin's ball at the score of 76 runs.

Head was troubled by Bumrah's balls in the beginning of the innings but he did not let the pressure dominate him by continuing to score runs by attacking other bowlers.

Brilliant fifty by Labuschagne 

Marnus Labuschagne was not in form for a long time and before this match, there was debate about his place in the team. He had started troubling India with the 26th half-century of his Test career when Yashasvi Jaiswal took a brilliant catch on the ball of young all-rounder Nitish Reddy and ended his innings.

While experienced Steve Smith (two), who came to the crease, failed even once with the bat. He was caught by Pant while trying to flick the ball of Bumrah.

Also Read: Most five-wicket hauls amongst left-arm pacers in Tests

Rishabh Pant and Rohit Sharma are at the crease

At present, the play of the third session of the second day of the day-night test is going on in Adelaide. India scored 100 runs at the loss of 4 wickets in the second innings. Rishabh Pant and Rohit Sharma are at the crease. KL Rahul was out after scoring 7 runs, Virat Kohli 11, Shubhman Gill 28 and Yashasvi Jaiswal 24 runs. Scott Boland got 2 wickets. Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc got 1-1 success.

Pink Ball Test, a five-day match contested under lights like a One Day International, was first held in November 2015 after a lot of trials in First-Class cricket across the globe. Day-Night Test was introduced to add more to the longer format as white-ball especially the T20s has taken over the game with crowds preferring the shorter format.

Also Read: Border–Gavaskar Trophy: India's record in Pink Ball Test

India are set to play their second Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Adelaide. After winning the Perth Test match by a massive margin of 295 runs, India will face Australia against the pink ball, under lights. So before the start of the series, let's take a look at the Indian batters who scored the most runs in the Pink Ball Test. 

1# Virat Kohli | 277 Runs

Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli has a fine record against the pink-ball, having played all of India's four pink-ball matches so far. He leads the scoring chart in pink ball Test cricket for India. In six innings so far, he has scored 277 runs at an average of 46.16, with a century and fifty. His knock of 136* against Bangladesh in 2019 at Kolkata is the only century by an Indian in a pink-ball Test.

After having overcome a lean patch of form with a century at Perth, Virat would be raring to continue his golden run in Australia and at the Adelaide Oval.

2# Rohit Sharma | 173 Runs

Indian team captain Rohit Sharma comes second on the list scoring just one half-century in Pink Ball Tests, accumulating 173 runs in five matches at an average of 39. This will be Rohit Sharma’s first Day-Night Test match on foreign soil, as all three of his previous Pink Ball Tests were played in India. 

As an opener, Rohit will need to weather the new ball, especially during twilight and night sessions when the pink ball is at its most ferocious. It will be quite interesting to see how Rohit goes about his business in the upcoming game.

3# Shreyas Iyer | 159 Runs

Shreyas Iyer has played just one day-night Test match and has scored 159 runs in it. He put up knocks of 92 and 67 in the second test between India and Sri Lanka in 2022. India were 86/4 after electing to bat. Iyer shone with a blistering 92 off 98 deliveries, whipping 10 fours and four maximums. He played with the tail-enders and was the last man to be dismissed (252/10). India eventually won by 238 runs.

4# Ajinkya Rahane | 100 Runs

Ajinkya Rahane comes in 4th place with 100 runs in 3 matches. Rahane also scored a half-century against Bangladesh in 2019.

5# Cheteshwar Pujara | 98 Runs

Cheteshwar Pujara is 5th on this list. He has amassed just 98 runs in 3 day-night Test matches. Pujara put up knocks of 55 and 43 against Bangladesh and Australia respectively. 

The second match of the five-match Border–Gavaskar Trophy series between India and Australia will be played in Adelaide from December 6. This will be a day-night test played with the pink ball. 

The good thing for India is that regular captain Rohit Sharma has returned. Apart from this, Shubman Gill is also on the verge of becoming fit. With the return of these two, Indian batting will become stronger. However, the team management will be worried about the playing 11. Fitting Rohit and Gill into a winning combination is a matter of concern.

Also Read: Indian captains to win POTM awards in Australia in Tests

It is considered certain that Devdutt Padikkal will sit on the bench. Apart from this, Dhruv Jurel can also be seen sitting on the bench. The biggest problem will be whether KL Rahul will be sent to open or he will be sent back to number five. Before that let us look at India's statistics in Day-Night Test or Pink Ball Test.

India has played four pink ball tests so far

India has played four day-night tests so far. Out of these, they have won in three, while they have faced defeat in one. Team India has won 75 percent of the matches in the day-night test. The only Test in which the Indian team lost was played in Adelaide four years ago. This was the first Test of India's tour of Australia in the 2020/21 Border–Gavaskar Trophy. Team India, captained by Virat Kohli, had to face a crushing defeat by eight wickets.

What happened in the India-Australia match in Adelaide in 2020?

Batting first in Adelaide, India had scored 244 runs. Cheteshwar Pujara scored 43 runs and Ajinkya Rahane 42 runs. In reply, Australia's first innings was limited to 191 runs. Marnus Labuschagne scored 47 runs and captain Tim Paine scored 73 runs.

The Indian team was devastated in the second innings and was reduced to just 36 runs. This is also India's lowest score in Tests. Cummins and Hazlewood took four and five wickets respectively. India had set a target of 90 runs by taking the lead against Australia. Australia won the match by scoring 93 runs for two wickets. Matthew Wade scored 33 runs, while Joe Burns remained unbeaten on 51 runs.

India played first pink ball test in 2019

India played its first pink ball test against Bangladesh in 2019 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata and won by 46 runs. After this, after playing against Australia in 2020, Team India defeated England by 10 wickets in the day-night test in Ahmedabad in February 2021 and then Sri Lanka by 238 runs in Bengaluru in March 2022. India's highest score in the day-night test is 347/9.

Indian batter who scored most runs in pink ball test

Virat Kohli has scored the most runs for India in the day-night test. He has scored 277 runs in four such matches at an average of 46.16. At the same time, Rohit Sharma is at second place with 173 runs in three matches at an average of 43.25. Shreyas Iyer is at third place in the list. He has scored 155 runs at an average of 79.50. 

Whereas, if we talk about bowlers, Ravichandran Ashwin has taken the most wickets for India in the day-night test. He has taken 18 wickets in four such matches. At the same time, Akshar Patel has taken 14 wickets in two pink ball tests. Umesh Yadav has taken 11 wickets in two such matches.

Also Read: Highest catches dropped percentages since 2011 (Min 100 chances) | Virat tops the list among batters

Highest runs for India in day-night test

Most wickets for India in day-night test

Australia's figures in day night test

Australia has an exceptional record in day night tests. They have played 12 day-night tests so far, out of which they have won 11 while losing only one. What makes their record even more impressive is that their wins have come against different opponents. These include India, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies. Australia defeated New Zealand by three wickets in the first international day-night Test in Adelaide in 2015. 

The matter of concern for Australia is that Josh Hazlewood, who wreaked havoc in 2020, will not play in the second Test of the Border–Gavaskar Trophy due to injury.