5 uncanny similarities between Virat Kohli's 103(197) at Trent Bridge in 2018 and Sachin's 103(197) at Ahmedabad in 2001
Virat Kohli, on his way towards greatness, added another feather to his cap. With his performances with the bat in this series, Kohli has definitely buried his nightmares of 2014 in England.
The Indian captain notched up another century in England, his 23rd overall in Test cricket in a must-win game. The right-handed batsman from Delhi led the Indian batting, excellently by scoring a total of 200 runs in 2 innings.
In the second innings, Kohli was much calmer in the nervous nineties especially after he missed out on a well deserved century by three runs in the first inning.
Although Kohli was given a reprieve by Jennings on 93, he made sure that he made the most of the opportunity and crossed the magical three-figure mark. In the end, the Indian captain ended up with 103 off 197 balls, having ensured that India put a mammoth target of 521 in front of the home team.
The century by Virat has put India in a dominant position but what went unnoticed is the number of similarities between his knock and the century scored by Sachin Tendulkar in December 2001 at Ahmedabad.
While the final scores - 103(197) - of both the batsmen was exactly the same, there were quite a few similarities between both the knocks. So let us take a look at the five similarities between both the knocks:
#1 Both centuries were scored against England
On both the occasions, the opposition team was England. Sachin's century came during England's 2001/02 tour of India. Coming into the second Test, the home team were 1-0 up and Sachin's century helped India post a respectable 291 in reply to England's 407 in the first innings.
Even in the present case, the home team are leading the series 2-0 and the Indian captain has made sure that his side will give its best in changing the final scoreline. Thanks to Virat's century, India is in the driving seat to make it 2-1 in the series.
#2 Coming to bat at No.4 after losing both the openers
Both Sachin and Kohli came in to bat at two-down. In 2001, the Indian opening pair constituted of Deep Dasgupta and Shiv Sunder Das who got out after scoring 17 and 41 respectively. Sachin came into the middle after SS Das got out in the 29th over and from that position he went onto score a century.
In Virat's case, it was KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan who fell for 36 and 44 respectively. Just like SS Das and D Dasgupta, Rahul and Dhawan also had put together a 50 plus stand for the opening wicket.
#3 Century partnership with a half-centurion
Sachin came into the middle after losing both the openers but soon he lost two more partners in the form of Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly. It was his partnership with VVS Laxman that helped India reach a total of 291. VVS Laxman with 75 runs was the only other batsman to cross 50 in that innings. The duo put on a partnership of 118 for the 5th wicket to help India post a respectable score.
In Virat's case, it was Cheteswara Pujara, who scored a gritty 72 off 208 balls. The two batsmen complemented each and tired out the English bowlers as they made 113 runs together in nearly 50 overs, 48.1 to be precise.
#4 Reaching the 100-mark with a boundary
Sachin Tendulkar who was on 96, scored a boundary off the bowling of Matthew Hoggard to reach the three-digit figure. It was Sachin's twelfth four in the innings in addition to one six and that boundary helped Sachin reach his 27th Test century.
On the hand, Virat Kohli's four came of Chris Woakes' bowling. The 29-year old batsman went from 98 to 102 with the help an edge that raced to the boundary, thus reaching his 23rd Test century.
Incidentally, Sachin and Kohli got out off the bowling of the same bowler - Hoggard and Wakes - against whom they scored the boundary to reach the landmark.
#5 58th international hundred
For both Sachin and Kohli, the 103(197) was their 58th international hundred. While Sachin scored 31 ODI centuries to that point, Virat has 35 ODI centuries in his kitty right now.
After that century Sachin went on to score 42 more centuries for the nation and it will be interesting to see if Virat Kohli can breach the magical figure or not.
We all know that a player like Sachin Tendulkar is irreplaceable due to his legacy with the bat, so let's hope that Virat Kohli will leave behind him a similar legacy if not a better one.