Virat Kohli further enhanced his reputation as arguably the best batsman in the world at the moment with yet another record-breaking knock in the second innings of the recently-concluded first Test against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
The India skipper was dismissed for a rare duck in the first innings but roared back to form when his team needed him the most, scoring 104 off just 119 balls to give India a real shot at an improbable victory.
Delighted with his knock, head coach Ravi Shastri heaped lavish praise on the 29-year old, saying “sky is the limit” for the skipper.
“Sky is the limit. He (Kohli) is a fabulous player, and I am very happy,” Shastri said on the sidelines of a promotional event after the first Test against between India and Sri Lanka ended in a draw.
The knock not only helped the team to register a moral victory in the drawn Test after being on the back foot for the first four days but also helped Kohli to add some more feathers to his already illustrious cap.
After starting the day on a commanding 171 for one, India was in a precarious position when Suranga Lakmal accounted for KL Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara early, and Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha departed for single-digit scores.
However, Kohli held firm from one end and scored a sublime ton to help India declare on 352 for eight, setting the Islanders an improbable target of 231.
With just over a session left, it looked the match would end in a draw but India had gone on to make a match out of it and was on the verge of winning the game after reducing the visitors to 75 for seven before the bad light saved Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, the century was Kohli’s 18th in Tests and it made him only the second Indian after the legendary Sachin Tendulkar to hit 50 international hundreds.
Kohli is now eighth on the list of most number of international centuries; trailing behind Brian Lara (53), Mahela Jayawardene (54), Hashim Amla (54), Jaques Kallis (62), Kumar Sangakkara (63) Ricky Ponting (71) and Tendulkar (100).
The Delhi-star is now the sixth on the list of Indians with the most number of Test centuries. Only Mohammed Azharuddin (22), Virender Sehwag (23), Sunil Gavaskar (34), Rahul Dravid (36) and Sachin Tendulkar (51) are ahead of him.
The right-handed also equalled Hashim Amla’s record of hitting the fastest 50 international centuries, reaching the landmark in his 348th innings. Tendulkar had taken 376 innings to achieve the feat.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly also heaped praise on Kohli as he said:
“It was a majestic inning by him (Kohli). He is very good as a captain. He has a long way to go.”
Also Read: (IND Vs SL 2017, 1st Test: Indian Player’s Ratings)
Video of the day: