SA vs IND, 2nd Test: Virat Kohli goes past two Pakistan greats in all-time Test run-scorers list

India superstar batter Virat Kohli has surpassed two Pakistan greats in the all-time Test run-scorers list.

Kohli became the 19th all-time Test run-getter during his knock in the second and final Test against South Africa at the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town.

Kohli has gone past former Pakistan captains Inzamam-ul-Haq and Javed Miandad in the all-time Test run-scorers list. Kohli is India’s fourth-highest run-scorer in Tests, having overtaken the legendary VVS Laxman in the first Test against South Africa in Centurion.

Inzamam had scored 8,830 runs in 120 Test matches for Pakistan at an average of 49.60, while hitting 46 fifties and 25 centuries. Meanwhile, Miandad amassed 8,832 runs in 124 Test matches, averaging 52.57, smashing 43 fifties and 23 hundreds.

Kohli went past the two Pakistan legends in the third session as India edged closer to a 100-run lead over South Africa. In the first innings, Mohammed Siraj produced a spell for the ages, claiming six wickets to bowl the hosts out for just 55 runs.

This was South Africa’s lowest innings total against India in Test cricket. Siraj registered his best figures in Tests, claiming six wickets while giving away 15 runs, while Jasprit Bumrah and Mukesh Kumar chipped in with a couple wickets each.

Kohli scored a gritty half-century in the first Test but could not prevent India from succumbing to a heavy defeat in Centurion. South Africa beat India by an innings and 32 runs in the first Test at the SuperSport Park in Centurion to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match Test series.

With that win, the Proteas squashed India’s hopes of capturing their final frontier in Test cricket, having never won a bi-lateral Test series in South Africa.

However, Rohit Sharma and co. have a chance of becoming just the second Indian side to avoid a Test series defeat in South Africa, and the first since MS Dhoni’s team in 2010/11.