Virat Kohli to play his 100th Test: His best moments
Former Indian captain Virat Kohli is set to play his 100th Test match on March 4. He will don the whites for the 100th time as India take on Sri Lanka in the first Test in Mohali. Kohli, who made his Test debut in 2011, will become the 12th Indian to reach this landmark. Here, we relive his best moments in Test cricket.
A hero emerged from the ashes!
Kohli had established himself as a prolific white-ball batter in the first few years of his career. However, he was yet to stamp his authority in Test cricket. Kohli's golden moment came when India were in shambles. They were 0-3 in the 2011/12 Test series Down Under. In the final Test at the Adelaide Oval, Kohli struck a courageous 116, his maiden Test century.
When Kohli ruled the Australian bowlers
In 2014, Kohli was perturbed by the disastrous England tour where he averaged just 13.50 (10 Test innings). He shut the detractors on the Australian tour a few months later. In the first Test at his happy hunting ground (Adelaide), Kohli smashed twin centuries (115, 141), facing Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, and Nathan Lyon. Although India lost the Test, Kohli's remarkable dominance grabbed eyeballs.
First Indian captain to score Test double-century away from home
Despite ruling the bowlers, Kohli was devoid of daddy hundreds in Test cricket. He finally broke the shackles in 2016. The former Indian skipper slammed his maiden double-century in Test cricket in the first Test against West Indies in North Sound. Kohli remains the only Indian captain to have registered a Test double-ton away from home (Previous-highest: 192 by Mohammad Azharuddin, Auckland).
Most Test double-tons by an Indian batter
Kohli was unstoppable after his 200-run knock against WI. Over five years later, he has a total of seven Test double-centuries, the most by an Indian batter. Kohli is only behind Donald Bradman (12), Kumar Sangakkara (11), and Brian Lara (9) on the list.
Kohli knocks over a ghost from the past
Kohli tallied just 134 runs in five Tests on the 2014 tour of England. Four years later, he stunned the cricket fraternity by smashing 149 in the first innings of the Edgbaston Test (first Test) alone. It is still the second-highest individual score by an Indian captain in England after Azharuddin's 179. Kohli finished the five-match series with 593 runs (most).
First Indian to score a ton in D/N Tests
In November 2019, Kohli became the first Indian batter to score a century in Day/Night Tests. He smashed 136 against Bangladesh in the Eden Gardens Test. No other Indian has smashed a century in pink-ball Tests to date. It was Kohli's 20th Test century as captain (went past Ricky Ponting). The former is only behind Graeme Smith, who owns 25 Test tons as captain.
India's most successful Test skipper
Kohli's Test career flourished after he took the charge of India's Test side in 2014. Nearly five years later, he surpassed his predecessor MS Dhoni to become India's most successful Test skipper. The former won his 28th Test as captain after India beat West Indies in the 2nd Test in 2019. And, Kohli left India's captaincy with 40 Test wins under his belt.
