New Delhi. Another golden page was added to the history of cricket at the Sophia Gardens ground in Cardiff. The ‘King’ of Indian cricket i.e. Virat Kohli has achieved such a position on the soil of England, which was like a dream for any Indian batsman before now. In the second ODI against England, as soon as Virat Kohli hit a brilliant four off Joffra Archer, he broke a big record of India’s great batsman Rahul Dravid, known as ‘The Wall’. Kohli has now become the Indian batsman who has scored the most international runs in all formats (Test, ODI and T20) on English soil.
37-year-old veteran batsman Virat Kohli needed only 4 runs before the match to reach this historic milestone. When Jofra Archer came to bowl the fourth ball in the ninth over of India’s innings, a brilliant shot from Virat’s bat not only took the ball across the boundary line, but also registered his name at the top in the history books.
Virat Kohli became the highest run scorer in England.
Dravid’s ‘wall’ crossed
Virat Kohli stepped on the soil of England for the first time in the year 2011 and his journey from then till the year 2026 has been full of ups and downs and struggles. He has played a total of 59 matches in England so far, in which he has scored 2,646* runs in 75 innings. During this period, his batting average has been 40.03, which includes 3 brilliant centuries and 18 half-centuries. Virat’s highest individual score in England has been 149 runs.
On the other hand, Rahul Dravid, one of the most reliable batsmen of Indian cricket, made his mark in England between 1996 and 2011. Dravid scored 2,645 runs in 56 innings of only 46 matches there with an incredible average of 55.10. Dravid has 8 centuries and 15 half-centuries in his name in England, in which his best score was 217 runs. Virat has set a new record in Indian cricket by surpassing Dravid’s mountain-like score of 2,645 runs.
Kohli tops the list of greats
With this historic achievement, Virat Kohli has also left behind many other great players of India. If we look at the list of Indian batsmen who have scored the most runs in England, then Sachin Tendulkar, who is called the God of Cricket, has now come to the third place. Sachin scored 2,626 runs in 56 innings of 43 matches in England between 1990 and 2011 at an average of 49.54, which included 7 centuries and 12 half-centuries.
In this list, current captain Rohit Sharma is also progressing rapidly and he is at fourth position. Rohit has scored 2,308 runs in 55 innings of 48 matches in England between 2009 and 2026 at an excellent average of 49.95. Rohit also holds the record for scoring the maximum number of 9 centuries in England.
Former captain Sourav Ganguly, who taught aggression to Indian cricket, is at fifth place in this list. ‘Dada’ had scored 1,949 runs in 36 matches between 1996 and 2007, in which his best score was 183 runs. At the same time, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, one of the most successful captains of India, is in sixth place, who has scored 1,869 runs after playing 60 matches in England. After Dhoni, comes all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (1,644 runs), stylish batsman KL Rahul (1,643 runs), veteran Sunil Gavaskar (1,583 runs) and Gabbar i.e. Shikhar Dhawan (1,478 runs).
Now Viv Richards’ challenge to King
However, Virat Kohli has achieved the distinction of being the Indian batsman who has scored the most runs in England, but at the world level, a big record still stands in front of him. The all-time record of scoring the most international runs by any foreign batsman on the soil of England is in the name of the great and awe-inspiring captain of West Indies, Sir Vivian Richards.
Sir Viv Richards created a stir in 63 innings of 55 matches while representing the Caribbean team in England between 1975 and 1991. He scored 3,402 runs there. Kohli is currently about 756 runs behind this all-time record of Richards. But seeing the way Virat Kohli’s bat is trying to satisfy his hunger for runs, it would not be wrong to say that in the coming time, he can also make this global record in his name. At present, the entire sports world is saluting Virat on this new and historic achievement.
