Virat Kohli might not be a man who goes out there with the intention of putting milestones in his name, but milestones, records, and stats are attracted to him. They called him the record breaker, but in reality, a record maker is what he is. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, Kohli’s Test hundreds are only getting bigger over the past year. His graph establishes an upward climb, and his 235 against England has been his best so far. But, he is only maintaining his relation with the daddy hundreds.
In what can be called as absolute domination, the Indian batsmen cast a kind of carnage one more time. They have already been associating themselves with that term this long Test season. But, today looked much easier than most of the matches. India became the first Team to score 600+ in 3 consecutive Tests as they went on to score a colossal 687/5 first inning total.
The pitch was a batting paradise and the entire batting order utilised the opportunity and contributed, except for KL Rahul. Virat Kohli remained the best in the lot (read, world). He may not have intended to, but his innings today added many records more records to his name.
The Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium saw him score 204 off 246 with a strike rate of 82.92 showed his sheer ease and comfort that dominated the Bangladeshi bowlers. His quick singles and doubles and 24 boundaries, with not a single six in that inning, remained the highlight of his knock. His 204 today is his sixteenth century and his first against Bangladesh. And his seventh in India, and his first at this venue.
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Now, he has at least one century against 7 nations, Bangladesh being the most recent opponent. Virat has scored 4413 Test runs at an average of 51.43. He is 4th on the list of highest batting average for an Indian batsman who played at least 30 innings. The other three players ahead of him are Vinod Kambli, Sachin Tendulkar, and Rahul Dravid. Virat Kohli also became the first captain to score four double centuries in a season in Test cricket.
Virat Kohli’s 1108* runs in 2016-17* hold the record for the most runs by a batsman in a season. Virender Sehwag in 2004-05 held the record before him. This is the second highest individual score by an Indian player against Bangladesh, making Kohli only the second Indian batsman to score a double hundred against them. Sachin Tendulkar’s 248* remains the highest so far.
He became the first batsman in Test history to register a double ton in 4 successive Test series. He has gone past Don Bradman and Rahul Dravid who had done it in three successive series’ earlier. Kohli registered his first double ton on India’s tour to West Indies last year and he has continued to convert his knocks into big ones from then on, in all the series that have followed.
There’s only one player who has more two hundred plus scores as captain than Kohli’s four. It is West Indies great Brian Lara with five in his name. Don Bradman, Michael Clarke, and Graeme Smith also scored four doubles as captain. Only three captains in International cricket have scored a double century against Bangladesh- Stephen Fleming, Graeme Smith, and Virat Kohli.
The previous 31 Indian captains cumulatively hit only four 200-plus scores. There are only 3 Indian batsmen who have scored more 200+ scores than Kohli’s four. Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar are joint leaders with six of them, while Dravid has five. Sunil Gavaskar has four, just like Kohli. And, in all probability, considering Virat Kohli’s form and longevity, he can make this record his own too.
This also became the third consecutive Test match to have at least one player score a double century. Kohli scored 235 against England in Mumbai, Karun Nair then scored 303* against England at Chepauk and today, Kohli again scored a double ton.
While he continues to dominate modern cricket and make records his own, in the heart of hearts, his performance in this one-off Test against Bangladesh is going to be crucial before he steps into the series against Australia. Because only Australia pose real competition for the No.1 Team at the moment. This match set the stage for more records that will bow down and surrender to Kohli.
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