Virat Kohli on verge of surpassing Gavaskar's record

Team India skipper Virat Kohli has led from the front in the series so far. He has undoubtedly been the most explosive of all the players in the series. His best came in the Mumbai Test when he hit a magnificent 235 to help India pile on runs in excess of 600. Earlier, he had hit 167 in the same series. Virat will have an opportunity to enter the record books in numerous ways when he comes in to bat in the fifth Test.

With 3 double tons to his name in this calendar year, Kohli will have the opportunity to equal the world record for most double hundreds in a calendar year. Michael Clarke holds the record with 4 double centuries in 2012. He will have a shot at it. Yet another interesting record that he will be chasing will be a 45-year-old record.

Virat has 640 runs to his name in the ongoing series in the 4 Tests that he has played. With 2 innings (the best case) in his hand, Kohli can enter the records for most runs scored by an Indian batsman in a Test series. The record is currently held by former Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar. Gavaskar had plundered 774 runs in 4 matches in the India tour to West Indies in 1971. Thus, if Kohli manages to score 135 runs in the final Test, he will break the 45-year-old record.

Interestingly, Kohli has two mentions in the list of top 5 aggregates by an Indian batsman in a Test series. He is at number 5 with his current exploits of 640 runs. He also takes the third spot for amassing 692 runs against Australia in the 2014-15 tour. Gavaskar heads the tally with 774 runs in 1971 against West Indies. He had come close to it in the 1978-79 series against West Indies when he scored 732 runs. The number 4 spot is taken by Dilip Sardesai, who had scored 642 runs against West Indies in 1971.

During the 1971 Test series, Gavaskar had the scores of DNP, DNP, 65, 67*, 116, 64*, 1, 117*, 124, 220 across the 10 innings of the 5 Tests. Virat Kohli has the scores of 40, 49*, 167, 81, 62, 6*, 235, DNB in the 8 innings in the four Tests thus far.