Virat Kohli's top 3 performances in international cricket at Edgbaston
Virat Kohli has established himself as one of the best batters in the world. He has been a frequent visitor to England in his cricketing career and Edgbaston is comfortably his favourite hunting ground in the country.
Kohli has scored 601 runs in 10 innings at an average of 100.16 at Edgbaston across formats and has had quite a few iconic performances at Birmingham. Indian fans will be hoping for yet another classic when he walks out to bat in the final Test between India and England that starts on July 1.
Let's take a look at the former Indian captain's top three performances at this venue.
#3 81* (68) vs Pakistan, Champions Trophy 2017
Just few overs ago,Kohli was 45 of 57 balls,next 11 balls 36 to finish with 81*of 68.
Great finish for India this. Pandya superb.
#INDvPAK
India played Pakistan in their first match of the 2017 Champions Trophy. Captain Kohli, leading the country in his first senior ICC event, lost the toss and India were asked to bat first. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma gave India a brilliant start with an opening stand of 136 runs in 24.3 overs.
Kohli walked in to bat after Dhawan was dismissed for a quick-fire 68 off 65 balls. He struggled initially and took his time to settle at the crease. The then-skipper was also given a reprieve when Fakhar Zaman dropped him when he was batting at 43 (55).
However, Virat then launched into the attacking mode and scored 38 runs off the last 12 deliveries of the innings. His partnership for the third wicket with Yuvraj Singh added 93 runs in 9.4 overs and ensured that India reached a total beyond Pakistan's reach. The Men in Blue won the match by 124 runs (D/L method).
#2 43 (34) vs England, Champions Trophy Final 2013
At a rain-shortened ICC final against England on their home ground, Virat Kohli brought his A-game when the country needed it the most. This innings was arguably one of his most clutch performances in ICC knockouts.
India lost the toss and were asked to bat first in the 20-over game. Kohli walked in to bat after Rohit was dismissed for nine runs in the fourth over of the innings. He then stitched together a crucial partnership with his Delhi teammate, Shikhar Dhawan (31). However, the team lost four quick wickets for just 16 runs in the middle overs and were reeling at 66/5 in 13 overs.
Ravindra Jadeja played an extremely crucial knock of 33* off 25 balls. Kohli's partnership with him ensured that India reached a competitive total in the first innings. Virat's innings consisted of four fours and one six in 34 balls. This meant that he also rotated the strike extremely well in tricky conditions for batting.
India won the match by just five runs and won their third ICC trophy under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The close margin of the win suggests the importance of Virat's crucial 43 runs in the all-important final.
#1 149 & 51 vs England, Pataudi Trophy 2018
Highest individual Test score by Indian at Edgbaston
149 - Virat Kohli
122 - Sachin Tendulkar
79 - Mohinder Amarnath
78 - Gundappa Viswanath
77 - MS Dhoni
#ENGvIND #ViratKohli https://t.co/yEIyd7UNFg
Virat Kohli had a point to prove at the first Test of the 2018 Pataudi Trophy at Edgbaston, with time. He had a terrible tour of England in 2014 during which he scored just 134 runs in 10 innings. India restricted England to 287 runs in the first innings of the Test.
Kohli walked in to bat with the scorecard at 54/2. India were then 100/5 in no time, and the onus was on Virat to step up in this tricky situation. He had his fair share of luck, being dropped twice early in his innings.
In the second phase of the innings, he put on a batting exhibition with the tail-enders. He added 92 runs for the last two wickets with Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav. These runs were extremely crucial in reducing the first-innings lead and staying in the game.
In the second innings, Kohli scored 51 runs in the 194 run-chase. However, the rest of the team collapsed yet again and India lost by a close margin of 31 runs.
When looked at with proper context, this was arguably Virat's best performance in Test cricket. No other batter crossed 26 runs in the first innings against the world-class bowling unit of James Anderson, Stuard Broad, Sam Curran, Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid.