Premier India batter Virat Kohli eclipsed the legendary Rahul Dravid, the current head coach of the Men in Blue, to become the second highest run-getter for the national side in international cricket on Sunday night.

With his 63 off 48 balls against Australia in the third and final T20I in Hyderabad, Virat Kohli's tally of runs surged to 24,078, which is 14 more than Rahul Dravid's overall numbers.

However, Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar continues to occupy the top spot with 34,375 runs for the national team on the international stage.

MOST RUNS FOR INDIA (ALL-TIME)

Sachin Tendulkar – 34,357 runs in 664 matches
Virat Kohli – 24,078 runs in 471 matches
Rahul Dravid – 24,064 runs in 404 matches
Sourav Ganguly – 18,433 runs in 421 matches
MS Dhoni – 17,092 in 535 matches

With his superb knock, Virat Kohli not only powered India to victory by six wickets in the game but also secured a much-needed series triumph over Aaron Finch and his boys.

In the process, he hit his 33rd T20I half-century, and his 34th fifty-plus score in T20Is, the most by any batter in the shortest format of the game.

Rohit Sharma is behind Virat Kohli in both categories – while he has 28 half centuries to his name, the Nagpur-born cricket star has 32 fifty-plus scores in T20Is, including four tons.

It was also Kohli's eighth fifty in T20Is against Australia, the most by any batsman against a single team in this format.

Kohli's record-breaking feat was hailed by Indian fans on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli was excited and happy to contribute to the Indian team's winning cause.

“I have to utilize my experience and had to take down Zampa. I looked at the dugout and both Rahul and Rohit asked me to continue batting,” Virat Kohli said after the match.

“He (Surya) has the game to bat in any conditions, he got a hundred in England, then batted well in Asia Cup. Here he is striking the ball as well as I have seen him in the last six months. It's just the array of shots and to play the shots at the right time is such a good skill to have, and he does that,” the talismanic Delhi-born batter added.

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Virat Kohli also spoke about his ploy to take on Adam Zampa who has been his nemesis, having dismissed the premier batter eight times in the past.

“I made up my mind to go after him (Zampa). He is a quality bowler and tries to control my scoring. I knew he was attacking my stumps, so was outside the leg stump. I am making a conscious effort to strike those big ones through the middle overs,” Virat Kohli explained.

“The game shouldn't have gone for that long, and we should have had four or five runs to chase in the last over. It was important to maintain my composure and get one boundary which I was able to do (in the last over). I have enjoyed batting ever since I came back at the Asia Cup. Today also I was an hour and half before the team. I am working hard on my process and happy with my contributions,” Virat Kohli summed up.

Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar was delighted with Virat Kohli's batting display against Australia in Hyderabad and said that the Delhi-born cricket star was looking hungrier than ever.

“He is a champion batter. He has done that for India for such a long period of time. He knows he is in that phase where he is enjoying his game big time. He knows that the rhythm is back, the hunger is back, you can see that with the body language that he is displaying along with his mates. That's what you want to see in him, enjoying,” Sanjay Bangar told Star Sports.

“There was a phase where the pressure was getting to him. But after the break, the sense of enjoyment is back, the feeling of hitting a cricket ball is back in his game,” Bangar further stated.

Furthermore, Matthew Hayden credited Suryakumar Yadav for Virat Kohli's recent performances because he reckons that the former was enjoying batting with the latter.

“We have been speaking a lot about this. For me, it's almost a non-discussion. He bats at No. 3 for this reason. KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma have got a really good opening partnership. You consolidate at No. 3. The glue is what Australia have been missing in this series, that is Steve Smith,” Matthew Hayden said.

“You can obviously see the way that SKY and him bat together as well. They enjoy batting together a lot,” Hayden concluded.