India will face New Zealand in a three-match Test series, the first match of which is scheduled to take place at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru from Wednesday (October 16) onwards. After whitewashing Bangladesh in Test and T20I series, the Indian men’s cricket team would like to come up with a big show against the Kiwis as well and win the series to maintain its No. 1 position in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 points table.
If India manages to whitewash the Kiwis, then it will almost confirm its place in the WTC 2025 final next year, which will be played at the Lord’s.
Indian batters have been in red-hot form this year, and there will be high expectations from the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Rishabh Pant. Indian captain Rohit Sharma has also scored a couple of centuries in eight Tests played so far in 2024, but premier batter Virat Kohli is struggling with form.
The former India captain has only managed to 395 runs in 19 innings of 16 international matches played so far across formats in 2024. He crossed the 50-run mark only once for the Men in Blue. Ahead of the India tour of Australia for a five-match Test series, Kohli will be eager to get some runs under his belt during the New Zealand series and silence his critics.
Here’s a look at Virat Kohli’s record in Tests against New Zealand:
Runs: Virat has amassed a total of 866 runs in 11 Tests played so far against the Black Caps. He played his first red-ball match against the Kiwis in Hyderabad in August 2012 and scored 58 runs in the first inning. In the only Test played against the Black Caps in Bengaluru, which is the venue of the first Test, Kohli scored 103 and 51* runs.
He has played four Tests against Kiwis in New Zealand, where he managed to score 252 runs in four matches and has 557 runs to his name in six matches played on Indian soil. He also played one Test against New Zealand in England, and in that fixture, he scored 44 and 13 runs.
Virat Kohli vs New Zealand in Tests
100s and best score: Kohli has scored a total of one double-century, two centuries, and three fifties against New Zealand in 11 Tests. He hammered 103 runs during the 2012 Test played in Bengaluru and then remained unbeaten on 105 runs in the second innings of the 2014 Test in Wellington. His best score in Tests against the Kiwis is 211 runs, which he scored in the first innings of the third Test played in Indore from October 8-11 in 2016.
Ducks: Virat has come out to bat 21 times in Test cricket against New Zealand, and only on one occasion he failed to open his account. However, that incident took place during the first innings of the last Test played between India and New Zealand at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai from December 3-6, 2021.
Average: Kohli has an overall batting average of 45.57 in Tests against New Zealand. His batting average in Tests played on Indian soil is 55.70, and it drops to 36.00 in matches played in New Zealand.
During the three-match Test series, Kohli will have a chance to become the third Indian cricketer after Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar to score 1000 runs in Tests against New Zealand. As of now, he has 866 runs to his name, and he needs 134 runs more to achieve the feat.
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