On a quiet Monday, Virat Kohli shook the cricketing world with a heartfelt announcement on Instagram — his retirement from Test cricket. While murmurs of the decision had begun circulating earlier, reportedly prompting the BCCI to urge a rethink, Kohli stood firm. He believed it was time. And with that, an extraordinary chapter in Indian cricket came to a close — but one unfinished dream remained: 10,000 runs in Test cricket.
Kohli finishes his red-ball career with 9,230 runs from 113 Tests at an average of 46.85, a figure that had once soared well above 50. In recent years, though, his form had dipped, and in the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he managed only 190 runs in five Tests — more than half (100*) of which came in a single century at Perth.
Virat Kohli, not a 10,000-run Test player
Back in 2013, on Aaj Tak’s Seedhi Baat, a young Kohli had laid bare his ambitions: “I don’t keep track of records at all. When I score a century in a match, I find out afterwards that it was the quickest to 10 centuries or something like that. So I only get to know about it after the match. Before the match, my focus is not on things like, ‘I have 5 innings left, and if I score 3 more centuries, I’ll set a record.’ I don’t think that way. My aim is to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket, and that’s something I really want to achieve.”
That goal, like many others in his storied career, seemed a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’. But as time passed and the runs dried up, the dream grew distant.
Kohli now retires as India’s fourth-highest run-scorer in Tests, behind only Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sunil Gavaskar. Among the modern ‘Fab Four’, Joe Root, Steve Smith, and Kane Williamson all continue to press forward, while Kohli takes his final bow.
He leaves the stage with 30 centuries, countless match-defining moments, and a legacy as one of India’s most impactful Test captains. But the number 10,000 will linger.
Player with 10,000+ runs in Tests
| Player | Span | Mat | Runs | HS | Ave | SR | 100 | 50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 1989-2013 | 200 | 15921 | 248* | 53.78 | 54.04 | 51 | 68 |
| Ricky Ponting (AUS) | 1995-2012 | 168 | 13378 | 257 | 51.85 | 58.72 | 41 | 62 |
| Jacques Kallis (ICC/SA) | 1995-2013 | 166 | 13289 | 224 | 55.37 | 45.97 | 45 | 58 |
| Rahul Dravid (ICC/IND) | 1996-2012 | 164 | 13288 | 270 | 52.31 | 42.51 | 36 | 63 |
| Joe Root (ENG) | 2012-2024 | 152 | 12972 | 262 | 50.87 | 57.47 | 36 | 65 |
| Alastair Cook (ENG) | 2006-2018 | 161 | 12472 | 294 | 45.35 | 46.95 | 33 | 57 |
| Kumar Sangakkara (SL) | 2000-2015 | 134 | 12400 | 319 | 57.40 | 54.19 | 38 | 52 |
| Brian Lara (ICC/WI) | 1990-2006 | 131 | 11953 | 400* | 52.88 | 60.51 | 34 | 48 |
| Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI) | 1994-2015 | 164 | 11867 | 203* | 51.37 | 43.31 | 30 | 66 |
| Mahela Jayawardene (SL) | 1997-2014 | 149 | 11814 | 374 | 49.84 | 51.45 | 34 | 50 |
| Allan Border (AUS) | 1978-1994 | 156 | 11174 | 205 | 50.56 | 41.09 | 27 | 63 |
| Steve Waugh (AUS) | 1985-2004 | 168 | 10927 | 200 | 51.06 | 48.64 | 32 | 50 |
| Steve Smith (AUS) | 2010-2025 | 116 | 10271 | 239 | 56.74 | 53.56 | 36 | 41 |
| Sunil Gavaskar (IND) | 1971-1987 | 125 | 10122 | 236* | 51.12 | 43.35 | 34 | 45 |
| Younis Khan (PAK) | 2000-2017 | 118 | 10099 | 313 | 52.05 | 52.12 | 34 | 33 |
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