India were reeling at 22 for 2 in the second Test against England when skipper Virat Kohli joined forces with Cheteshwar Pujara in the middle. The two batsmen have now taken India to a strong position in the match by scoring centuries.
KL Rahul, who was recalled to the playing eleven in place of Gautam Gambhir, had a terrible comeback as he was dismissed even without opening his account. After failing to impress in the first Test at Rajkot, it was the worst possible start for the hosts. Few overs later, they suffered a bigger setback when first match centurion Murali Vijay was dismissed by James Anderson with only 22 on the scoreboard. Another wicket would have deteriorated the conditions for Kohli’s men but then two of India’s batting mainstays joined hands to start the rescue work. Kohli along with Pujara steadied the ship with a brilliant partnership. Last heard, India were for 231 for 2 with the duo adding 209 runs for the third wicket. Both players mixed caution with aggression and matched each other stroke by stroke. In fact, Pujara outpaced his partner on several occasions much to the surprise of everyone.
Last heard, Kohli, who is playing his 50th Test today, was batting on 101 while first match centurion Pujara was batting on 109.
Here is how Twitter reacted to their brilliant batting:
https://twitter.com/cool_nikkki/status/799180475856289792
https://twitter.com/ameyauchil12/status/799180453110423552
You know its #AchheDin when Pujara completes century with a six #INDvENG
— विक्रमादित्य सिंह ࿗ (@nawab_lucknow) November 17, 2016
Pujara love affair against england continues and virat kohli love affair with #vizag continues #INDvENG
— Mohd Shoaib (@Dikisukhi) November 17, 2016
Magnificent ton with a glorious 6. India's second Supermoon in the span of couple days. #Shining #IndvEng
— cricBC (@cricBC) November 17, 2016
And to think that he was dropped from Test XI to accomodate likes of Suresh Raina & Rohit Sharma.. #Pujara #INDvENG
— Navneet Mundhra (@navneet_mundhra) November 17, 2016
https://twitter.com/Dead_Comedian/status/799182474978869248
14th Test 100 Kohli
7th as a captain
5th at home
3rd of 2016
2nd against ENG#INDvENG— JSK (@imjsk27) November 17, 2016
My 2 favourite Indian batsmen were @sachin_rt & @VVSLaxman281.
This guy is right up there with them: @imVkohli.
Just sublime. #INDvENG— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) November 17, 2016
https://twitter.com/ghaintbanda/status/799183228498128896
Pujara & Kohli have done fairly enough to fill the void left by Dravid & Sachin @paytm #INDvENG
— ०शुभम गोस्वामी० (@shustrong7) November 17, 2016
Virat 100*, Pujara 100* why is media saying people not getting 100 even after standing for hours in queue. #IndVsEng
— The Viral Fever (@TheViralFever) November 17, 2016
Pujara and Kohli took approx 5 hours to get their 100's, story of every Indian right now. #INDvENG
— Divya Kr Gupta (@cooldivay) November 17, 2016
The Fact @imVkohli didn't take his helmet off to acknowledge his 100 suggests he fancies a double … #Genius #India #INDvENG
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) November 17, 2016
"Don't do as I say…do as I do"-Kohli.
Another ton…sensational conversion rate from 50 to 100. #INDvENG— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) November 17, 2016