India’s modern legendary batsman Virat Kohli has shown a great intent to accumulate huge runs across all formats of cricket.
Especially, in his 13-year test cricket career, the right-handed batsman had 9,040 runs in 201 innings at a batting average of 47.83, which shows his domination against every opposition. Out of which, he tallied 2,042 runs against Australia in 25 tests that consist of 8 hundreds and 5 fifties.
Notably, Kohli scored 1,352 runs in 13 Tests on Australian soil averaging at 54.08 tallying with 6 centuries and 4 half centuries. Interestingly, the 36-year-old Indian cricketer amassed most of the runs in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth. His special fondness for batting on the bouncy pitches in Australia suits his batting skills and shots execution.
As the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 commenced in Australia, let’s take a closer look at the top five highest scores achieved by Virat Kohli against his favorite opponent team’s homeground.
1.169 Runs (not out) in Melbourne 2014:
The Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in 2014 witnessed Virat Kohli recording his highest test score in Australia.
India trailing by 531 runs in their first innings, lost their top-order batters Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, and Cheteshwar Pujara at an early stage. But, Kohli scored a fabulous 169 runs out of 272 balls by smashing 18 fours with a strike rate of 62.13. In addition, he maintained a crucial 260-run partnership with Ajinkya Rahane in the first innings, which propelled his team’s total to 465-10 in 128.5 overs.
However, the 3rd test match concluded with a draw result as the captain MS Dhoni, and all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin defended their wicket in the completing 13 overs of Day 5 to avoid facing their third consecutive loss in the series.
2.147 Runs in Sydney 2014:
Virat Kohli scored a blistering 230-ball-147 run knock (including 20 fours) in the fourth test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2014-15 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Batting at a strike rate of 63.91, the middle-order batsman continued with his brilliant form by scoring the fourth hundred in the series. He gave a perfect response to Australia’s mammoth first-innings total of 572-7 in 152.3 overs.
Interestingly, KL Rahul scored his maiden test century by maintaining a steady partnership of 140 runs with Kohli.
This was the second consecutive draw result for India in the series as the Indian batters showed their resistance on the final day. Yet, the Australians emerged as the BGT 2014 winners with a 2-0 victory.
3. 141 Runs in Adelaide 2014
This was one of the most memorable performances of Virat Kohli in his test cricket career. The final day of the Adelaide test became more thrilling when India was required to chase down a challenging target of 364.
Kohli’s 175-ball-141 runs including 16 fours and a six almost guided India to achieve victory in the series opener.
Shockingly, the Indian batting order suffered a massive collapse falling into the trap of Nathan Lyon’s 7-wicket haul. As a result, the score dropped from 242-2 in 69 overs to 315 all-out in 87.1 overs which caused the game to lose by 48 runs.
4. 123 Runs in Perth 2018
Despite the pitch conditions in Perth offering huge assistance to pacers, Virat Kohli played a captain’s knock by leading the batting lineup from the front. A fantastic century of 123 runs scored out of 257 balls (including 13 fours and 1 six) uplifted India’s total to 283-10 in 105.5 overs. However, India was still trailing by 43 runs due to a lack of contributions from other batters despite Kohli maintaining a 91-run partnership with Rahane who played a supportive role by scoring a half-century.
Even after his heroic knocks, India lost the match by 146 runs while chasing down a target of 287 in the 2nd innings.
5. 116 Runs in Adelaide 2012
During the fourth test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2011-12 in Adelaide, Virat Kohli recorded his first test century on Australian soil. India entered the final test match of the series after a 3-0 defeat to Australia.
Moreover, it was a challenge for Kohli at that time to secure his spot in test cricket among other key players due to the unimpressive scores within his 6 months of debut in the longest format.
In response to Australia’s staggering total of 604-7 in 157 overs, Virat scored 116 runs out of 213 balls by striking 11 fours and a six. He maintained a solid partnership of 114 runs with Wriddhiman Saha to steer India’s total to reach 272-10 in 91.5 overs. Despite that Australians were still leading with a huge margin of 332 runs.
However, India wasn’t able to chase the massive target of 500 runs in their 2nd innings. As a result, the visitors not only faced a 298-run loss but also concluded the series with a 4-0 whitewash defeat to Australia.
