Virat Kohli’s batting average in Test is third lowest among players with 9,000 runs

December 17, 2024
2:51 pm

Virat Kohli has seen a dip in his form over the past few years. Virat Kohli’s Test average currently stands at 47.49, with 9,166 runs to his name. To put into perspective, Kohli’s Test average in 2019 was constantly in the mid-fifties, the highest being 55.10, and was once the only batsman to have an average of 50 or above in all three formats. For eight years, Kohli’s average has not gone below 47.5, and now, his batting average is third lowest amongst the players that have scored 9000 in Tests, and the only one of the fab four to have a Test average below 50.

His second innings in Perth gave glimpses of a potential comeback of the former Indian captain, as he always brings his A-game Down Under in the Border Gavaskar Trophy. But other than the innings that marked his 81st international century in Perth, he has produced rather disappointing scores, (5,7,11,3).

Virat Kohli’s struggles to deliveries outside the off-stump continued with his dismissal at Gabba on Monday.

Kohli looked a little uncomfortable facing the deliveries in the first innings of the third test in Brisbane, as he fell to his nemesis, the outside off stump ball, bowled by Josh Hazlewood yet again. This dismissal brought his average down to the lowest it has been in eight years, after his test outing against England that put his average at a 47.50.

Kohli reached the average of 50 after scoring a double century against England in 2016, and for six years, it did not go below that mark. His outing in the Bengaluru pink ball Test match against Sri Lanka in 2022 saw him drop below that mark, and has never recovered since. He scored 23 and 13 in his two innings, as Shreyas Iyer’s 92 and 67 helped India win the match comfortably.

There are a total of 19 players who boast the stat of having 9000 runs in Tests, and amongst those, Virat Kohli sits third lowest in terms of batting average. He is followed by Hashim Amla with 46.64 and Alastair Cook with 45.35.

Player	Mat	Runs	HS	Average	100	50
Kumar Sangakkara	134	12400	319	57.4	38	52
Steve Smith	112	9805	239	56.35	33	41
Jacques Kallis	166	13289	224	55.37	45	58
Kane Williamson	105	9276	251	54.88	33	37
Sachin Tendulkar	200	15921	248*	53.78	51	68
Brian Lara	131	11953	400*	52.88	34	48
Rahul Dravid	164	13288	270	52.31	36	63
Younis Khan	118	10099	313	52.05	34	33
Ricky Ponting	168	13378	257	51.85	41	62
Shivnarine Chanderpaul	164	11867	203*	51.37	30	66
Sunil Gavaskar	125	10122	236*	51.12	34	45
Steve Waugh	168	10927	200	51.06	32	50
Joe Root	152	12918	262	50.85	36	64
Allan Border	156	11174	205	50.56	27	63
Mahela Jayawardene	149	11814	374	49.84	34	50
Graeme Smith	117	9265	277	48.25	27	38
Virat Kohli	121	9166	254*	47.49	30	31
Hashim Amla	124	9282	311*	46.64	28	41
Alastair Cook	161	12472	294	45.35	33	57