Indian Test captain Virat Kohli will play his 50th Test match on Wednesday in Visakhapatnam as India play England in the second Test of the five-match series. Kohli has some staggering numbers in ODIs and T20s. But some people believe that Kohli is not as good a batsman in Test matches as in ODIs. Here are five career statistics that prove Kohli is a great batsman and captain in Test matches as well.
Superb Performance Against The Best Team In World
Australia may be in a very bad situation against South Africa. However, it is a very competitive team and the most difficult to beat. Virat Kohli has an exceptional record against the most fierce team in the world. He has struck 6 centuries against them. 5 Test centuries he has scored on Australian side. He has scored 1276 runs against them at an average of 60.76 runs.
Hero overseas
Indian batsmen have issues scoring outside India. Most of the players have more number of centuries in India than overseas. But Virat Kohli is different. He has scored 9 out of 13 centuries overseas where pacers challenge the technical know-how of a batsman.
Lead by example
Virat Kohli was made the Indian Test captain in 2014. After his appointment, his Test record improved dramatically. He has played 18 Test matches as captain and has averaged 55.17 runs. He has hit 6 centuries in these 18 Test matches.
Before being a captain, he had scored at an average of 41.13 in 31 Test matches. He had struck 7 centuries. This proved that he has matured as a batsman after becoming the captain.
Dependable
In matches India have lost, Kohli’s average is a dismal 34.35. He scored at an average of 66.94 in drawn matches and at an average of 44.72 in matches India won. He has saved many matches for India. The most recent example is the first Test match against England.
Better than Sachin Tendulkar
In the first 50 Test matches, Kohli has scored more runs than Sachin Tendulkar. He has also scored more centuries than him.
Virat Kohli has scored 3643 runs with an average of 46.11. Tendulkar scored 3438 runs in his 50 Test matches. while Kohli had scored 13 centuries, Sachin scored only 11 Test centuries.
