Virat Kohli scored 82 runs in the first innings of the MCG Test. (Source: AP)Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Thursday surpassed Rahul Dravid to become the Indian batsman with most overseas runs in a calendar year. The right-handed batsman achieved the record when he reached 82 runs on Day 2 of the 3rd Test against Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground. With the help of his innings, Kohli has now scored 1,138 Test runs away from home and has surpassed Dravid’s tally of 1,137 which he achieved in 2002.
After Kohli and Dravid, Mohinder Amarnath (1,065 in 1983) and Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar (918 in 1971) are the other two batsmen to feature in this list.
Kohli failed to register his 26th ton after he was dismissed by Mitchell Starc in the second session of the day. The batsman played a wide bouncer from the left-armer, only to land it straight to Aaron Finch at third man position. The 30-year-old already has already scored six centuries in Australia and is tied with Sachin Tendulkar. He already had scored a ton in this series, in the 2nd Test at Perth.
Just minutes before his dismissal, Kohli was seen getting some attention from the Indian physio Patrick Farhart. While playing short deliveries from the Aussie seamers, the batsman faced some back troubles and had to be treated for the same.
Apart from Kohli, Rohit Sharma also scored a half century, finishing 63* in the innings. Cheteshwar Pujara remained the only batsman to score a ton for India in the first innings at MCG.
Pujara was dismissed for 106 after delivery from Pat Cummins kept low and knocked down his stumps. India declared with the total of 443/6 on the board on Day 2. Australia reached 8/0 by the end of day’s play with Marcus Harris and Aaron Finch in the middle.
