Virat Kohli eyes Don Bradman's career record, Rahul Dravid's Australia feat in WTC final
As the WTC final draws near, Kohli has a few records in sight as he gears up to face his favourite team, Australia, at The Oval, starting June 7.
Virat Kohli is back. And all the questions, the criticisms and the talk around his century drought, his form and his eventual place in the side are all in the distant past now. The conversation has now moved back to normalcy with eyes on the records he can still break with Sachin Tendulkar's batting records standing as the ultimate prize. As the World Test Championship final draws near, Kohli has a few records in sight as he gears up to face his favourite team, Australia, at The Oval, starting June 7.
Kohli had ended his international century drought in the Asia Cup tournament last year with an unthinkable T20I ton. He later reached the triple-figure mark in ODIs in the Bangladesh series before breaking the duck in the Test format as well in the Ahmedabad tie earlier in March in the Border-Gavaskar series.
On Wednesday, India will begin their one-off contest against Australia in the WTC final and Kohli will be gunning for a few milestones in the match which includes that of the greatest ever Don Bradman and incumbent India coach Rahul Dravid.
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If Kohli scores a ton at the Kennigton Oval, it will be his 29th century in the format in his career, drawing him level with Bradman's career tally. Among active cricketers, it will still leave him one short of the top place, presently occupied by Australia's Steve Smith with 30 centuries. Joe Root stands next with 29 tons.
Kohli also stands a chance to go past Dravid's record against Australia if he manages to perform at his supreme best, which he certainly does each time he goes up against the Aussies. In 24 appearances against the side, he has scored 1979 runs at 48.26. If he scores 188 more, he can go past Dravid's record against Australia of 2166 runs to stand as the third best India batter against the opposition after Tendulkar (3630) and VVS Laxman (2434).
That same run tally could also see Kohli go past Virender Sehwag's career Test record of 8586 runs. Kohli, with 8416 runs in 108 matches, stands 170 runs short of the mark. The milestone could see the 33-year-old become the fifth-highest run-getter in Tests for India after Tendulkar (15921), Dravid (13288), Sunil Gavaskar (10122), and Laxman (8781).
