Virat Kohli hardly gets anything wrong these days, especially when he is batting. He not only spoils the rhythm of feared bowlers but brutally drives the erring ones towards ignominy. On Saturday, he did nothing different.
Records tumbled like a pack of cards on Saturday as the Delhi lad made roaring Wankhede crowd dance to his tunes as he brought up his 15th Test ton against a hapless English attack on the third day of the fourth Test. His unbeaten knock of 147 helped India pile up 451 runs at stumps, a clear 51-run lead over the visitors who had hoped to wrap up the Indian lower order early.
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Three years after it hosted batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar’s 200th and final Test, Wankhede witnessed Kohli’s Virat innings as the Delhi swashbuckler punished Alastair Cook & Co at will.
Wankhede celebrates as @imVkohli brings up his 15th Test ton. This has been a batting masterclass from #TeamIndia skipper #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/N0xIy2CgNi
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 10, 2016
After having survived a scare when spinner Adil Rashid failed to grab a return straight drive from him, Kohli did not let the opportunity go. He progressed his innings according to the situation, aptly dubbed as a transmission box by the commentators. Former opener Virender Sehwag, who is famous for his witty one-liners as a commentator as well, summed up his popularity like this.
Ishq Wala Love, Oley Wali Baarish and Virat Kohli poori duniya me
mashhoor hain.
The ongoing year has been no less than euphoric for Kohli,w ho now averages more than 50 in all formats of the game. Along with his Midas touch as the captain, the 28-year-old is also a magician with the willow. He is now the second Indian skipper to score more than 500-plus runs in a series, next to Sunil Gavaskar who did it twice.
At Stumps on Day 3 of the 4th Test, #TeamIndia are 451/7, lead #ENG(400) by 51 runs (Virat 147*, Jayant 30* ) #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/DLnLRWCm2I
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 10, 2016
More than that, he is also the third Indian captain after Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar to score 1,000-plus runs in a calendar year. Joining the league of such stalwarts in less than two years since getting reins of the team is no mean feat.
Congratulations skipper @imVkohli – 4000 Test runs pic.twitter.com/DMDnjnoytF
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 10, 2016
But that is Kohli for you. Be it Tests, ODIs or the Twenty20 format, he changes his game as the situation demands. If he had a horrid tour of England in 2014 with just 139 runs, the colossal run tally in the ongoing series is enough to prove how much has he matured since that English summer. The Indian fans would be hoping for him to put the match and series beyond the visitor’s reach on Sunday.
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