Virat Kohli brought up his 75th century in international cricket, courtesy of a scintillating knock in the ongoing fourth Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023 Test, here in Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. It also was the former Indian skipper’s first Test century in over three years.
Chasing Australia’s mammoth first innings score of 480 runs, India were 187/2 when Kohli arrived in the middle. The initial phase of the exemplary knock was far from being a smooth sailing, as off-spinner Nathan Lyon managed to catch the 34-year-old’s outside edge in only the fourth delivery that Kohli faced. Fortunately for him and the Indian team, the ball dropped short of slip.
An adroitly-paced innings saw Kohli accumulating all but merely 9 runs in the first 37 deliveries, before eventually switching gears with a couple of exquisite boundaries against the opposition’s most prized pace asset, Mitchell Starc.
The batter took 107 deliveries to bring up his half-century, which also was his first fifty in Test cricket since January 2022. Having expertly evaded the initial challenges posed by the baggy greens’ in-form bowlers, Kohli looked in undisputed control of his knock following his half-century, with glimpses of a much-awaited ton appearing on the horizon.
Cautious, Yet Perfectly Composed Batting Display From Kohli
Remaining unbeaten on 59 at the end of Day 3 of the match, Kohli started Day 4’s expedition with a cautious approach yet again, opting against taking unwarranted risks in the first few overs of the day’s play. Albeit boundaries were nowhere to be seen, the batter gave a fine account of his agility by converting the ones into twos, alongside an occasional three.
India’s second-highest run-scorer went into the lunch break batting on 88 runs off 220 deliveries, whilst the remaining 12 runs arrived in 21 deliveries.
This was Kohli’s 28th Test century, which now sees him tied with Australia’s Michael Clarke and South Africa’s Hashim Amla, and touching distance away from the elite club of 14 players who have scored 30 or more tons in the longest format of the game.
More importantly, however, this also was Kohli’s first century in this format since in the pink ball Test against Bangladesh, which took place way back in November 2019, at Eden Gardens. With this being his 75th ton in international cricket across all formats, Kohli is now 25 centuries away from reaching Sachin Tendulkar’s milestone of 100 centuries.
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