How far is Virat Kohli from these five records?
Indian captain Virat Kohli had a record-breaking day on day two of the second Test against South Africa at Pune in every sense. He remained unbeaten on 254 from 336 balls, during which he hit 33 fours and two sixes. The knock is now Kohli’s highest in Test cricket, surpassing the 243 he made against Sri Lanka at Delhi in December 2017.
During the course of his innings, he was aided by Ajinkya Rahane, who contributed 59 and Ravindra Jadeja, who narrowly missed out on a hundred, falling for 91. After declaring at 601 for 5, Umesh Yadav’s double strike and one scalp from Mohammed Shami left South Africa in dire straits at 36 for 3.
Coming back to Kohli and his records, he registered his seventh double hundred, thus moving past Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, and topping the list of Indians with most double centuries. With his 9th 150 plus score, Kohli also overtook the legendary Don Bradman (8) as the Test captain with most 150 plus knocks.
While Kohli revels in the glory of another master-class, here’s a look at a few other records the Indian captain could break in the months and years to come.
Most hundreds as international captain
The ton at Pune was Kohli’s 40th as captain in international cricket. He is now second on the list of international captains with most hundreds. It is just a matter of time before he goes past Aussie legend Ricky Ponting, who registered 41 hundreds as international captain.
Most centuries as Test captain
As the Test captain of India, Kohli’s unbeaten 254 was his 19th century. He now stands equal with Ricky Ponting, but needs six more to match South African Graeme Smith (25), the man who currently holds the record for the most Test hundreds as captain.
3 hundreds to match the Don
With his 26th Test hundred, Kohli has gone past another former skipper, Pakistan’s Inzamam-ul-Haq (25) on the list of batsmen with most Test hundreds. He is presently tied with Gary Sobers and Steve Smith, who also have 26 Test hundreds. With three more tons, Kohli will stand equal with Bradman at 29 Test hundreds. Currently, Allan Border and Graeme Smith (27) and Hashim Amla and Michael Clarke (28), stand between Kohli and the Don.
159 runs to overtake Sourav Ganguly
During the course of his 254 not out, Kohli went past 7,000 Test runs. He also surpassed Dilip Vengsarkar’s tally of 6,868 runs, and is now seventh on the list of Indian batsmen with most runs. With 7,054 runs, he now needs another 159 runs to overtake Sourav Ganguly and move to sixth in the line. Ganguly finished his Test career with 7212 from 113 Tests.
Most double hundreds in Test cricket
Of all the records, this is one that Kohli might find a bit difficult to break. With seven Test double hundreds, he is now equal with legends Mahela Jayawardene and Wally Hammond. However, he is still some distance away from the all-time record holder -- none other than Bradman who notched up 12 double centuries in his 52-Test career. Kohli has age on his side, and, form and fitness permitting, it is not an impossible task for him. Before that though, he would have to go past Brian Lara and Kumar Sangakkara, who have 9 and 11 double hundreds respectively.
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