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India's stalwart batter Virat Kohli etched his name in the history books by becoming the fastest player to cross the 27,000 international run mark on Day 4 of the second Test against Bangladesh in Kanpur.
He surpassed 'Master Blaster' Sachin Tendulkar's record as he raced to the elusive feat with elegance on a sunny day in Kanpur on Monday. Kohli achieved the feat in 594 innings, 29 less than the batting maestro. During his illustrious career, Sachin slammed 27,000 international runs in 623 innings. Sri Lanka's decorated wicketkeeper batter Kumar Sangakkara achieved the feat in 648 innings. Australia's celebrated skipper Ricky Ponting amassed 27,000 international runs in 650 innings. As Kohli continued to pull off his effortless drives and eye-catching stroke play, he looked destined for an extended stay on the crease. But his attempt to play across the line led to his downfall. Shakib Al Hasan's ball kept low and sneaked past the wide gap between Kohli's bat and pad. After hitting the historic milestone, Kohli walked back for a score of 47(35). Kohli now boasts 27,012 international runs, the fastest by any player in the history of cricket. With more than two days of play washed out by rain, India showed aggressive intent moments after bowling out Bangladesh on 233. After witnessing two days of rain, the people in Kanpur witnessed boundaries pelting down relentlessly. The mayhem of boundaries in Kanpur was started by Yashasvi Jaiswal and skipper Rohit Sharma. The quickfire stand of 55 runs between the opening duo ended in 3.5 overs, with spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz cleaning up Rohit for a quickfire 23 in 11 balls, with a sole four and three sixes. During Rohit's dismissal, the scoring rate of these two was 14.34 runs per over, the highest scoring rate in a Test partnership with a minimum of 50 runs, outdoing the England duo of Ben Stokes and Ben Duckett, who stitched a stand of 87 in just 44 balls against the West Indies at Edgbaston this year, scoring at a rate of 11.86 runs per over. Even after Rohit was dismissed, the protective, anchor-like approach of Shubman Gill provided Jaiswal with a safety net to go even harder at bowlers, helping India reach the hundred-run mark in just 10.1 overs, outdoing the team's record of registering the milestone in 12.2 overs against the West Indies just last year. (ANI)
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