WTC Final 2023: Kohli completes 5000 runs vs Australia, second Indian after Sachin

WTC Final, IND vs AUS: Virat Kohli became only the second batter after Sachin Tendulkar to score 5000 runs across formats against Australia during the ongoing World Test Champions Final on Saturday.

India’s Virat Kohli waves to supporters as he walks off the field at stumps on day 4 of the ICC World Test Championship cricket final match between Australia and India. | Photo Credit: AFP

India’s Virat Kohli became only the second batter after Sachin Tendulkar to score 5000 runs across formats against Australia during the ongoing World Test Champions Final at the Oval in London on Saturday.

He achieved the feat on the first ball of the 40th over of the fourth day off Nathan Lyon with a boundary while chasing 444 in the last innings.

Tendulkar currently leads the run-scoring charts against Australia with 6707 runs in 144 innings, averaging 49.68. He also scored 20 centuries. Three former West Indies captains - Brian Lara 4714 in 108 innings, Desmond Haynes 4495 in 123 innings and Vivan Richards 4453 in 104 innings complete the top five list.

Kohli also became the fifth Indian to complete 2000 runs against Australia in Test cricket. He follows Tendulkar (3630), VVS Laxman (2434), Rahul Dravid (2143) and Cheteshwar Pujara (2033) as the ones to achieve this feat.

Kohli scored his first Test hundred against the Aussies in the Adelaide test of the 2012 India tour of Australia. His most recent test century also came against the same opposition in the fourth test of the Border-Gavaskar trophy in Ahmedabad.

He is also nine runs away from completing 2000 runs against England in the longest format.

India ended the penultimate day of the WTC 2023 final at 164/3, requiring another 280 runs to win the game on the last day with seven wickets in hand.