India vs SA, 2nd Test: Virat Kohli rates his top two double hundreds in Test cricket
Team India captain Virat Kohli admitted that the responsibility of leading the country motivates him to do well in adverse situations, which ultimately helps him score "daddy hundreds."
Speaking after becoming the only Indian to score seven Test tons, Kohli, who also smashed a plethora of records en route his unbeaten 254 on Day 2 of the second Test against South Africa, went on to talk about how captaincy has changed his approach towards batting.
"Feels great it's a nice little thing to get along in your career, to get the most number of double hundreds," Kohli said after the end of the days play.
"I struggled to get big scores initially but then as soon as I became captain then you invariably just think about the team all the time, you can't just think about your game. In that process, you end up batting more than you can imagine that's been the mindset for a long time now."
Kohli went past Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, who have six double centuries in Tests, during his epic knock at Pune. He now has 26 Test hundreds to go with his 43 in ODIs. The Indian also got to 7,000 Test runs in the process, surpassing Don Bradman's tally of 6,996 runs.
"It's difficult but if you keep thinking (about the) team then you push yourselves in situations you can't otherwise. That's the key in hot and humid, testing conditions you think about the team and you end up batting 3-4 hours more."
"That was the only challenging thing and then (Ravindra) Jadeja came to bat and you have to run fast with Jaddu. It was physically and mentally challenging and but that's what you prepare for as an international player," he continued.
Asked to rank his double tons, Kohli rated his 200 against West Indies at Antigua and his 235 against England in Mumbai as the best of the lot.
"The top two will be Antigua and Mumbai, the one against England. All double hundreds are special but those two are more special because one was away from home and one against England in challenging conditions, it was very hot and humid there."
Team India ended the day in the driver's seat, first piling on more than 600 runs in their first innings, and then seeing the back of three top-order Proteas batters before stumps. South Africa ended the day at 36 for 3, still needing 366 runs to avoid a follow-on. Kohli was delighted at how the day panned out and hoped that the Indian bowlers could dismiss the rivals in quick succession.
"The plan was simple, to get to 600 as soon as possible and make them bat tonight. Jaddu batted brilliantly, at a great tempo so that allowed me to take risks and hit the gap. That partnership was great for us we also bowled and ended up taking three wickets.
"That was the plan, we wanted to attack and be positive not just play out sessions and days. Whatever happened at the end that was the plan," Kohli said.
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