India captain Virat Kohli roared back to form in Test cricket with a stunning century in the second innings of the ongoing Test against Sri Lanka in Galle.
While his form in the limited-overs format was consistently good, as he was one of the top performers in the Champions Trophy and the West Indies tour, his form in the white jersey was a matter of concern for the team.
The 28-year old was in scintillating form in the past season scoring four double centuries in four consecutive series before a prolonged poor run started in the four-match series against Australia. He scored only 46 runs in three Tests at an average of just 9.20 which was his lowest average in a Test series since 13.4 against England in 2014, although he did not play the last match against Steve Smith & Co. in Dharamsala.
And his performance in the first innings of the Galle Test gave indications that he was yet to regain his form, as he was dismissed for just three when most of the Indian batsmen made merry on a good batting pitch.
However, the run-machine quashed all the apprehensions by slamming his 17th Test century. The century also helped Kohli to equal former captain Sourav Ganguly’s record of most international centuries as India captain.
Century for the captain and the dressing room erupts to applaud @imVkohli #TeamIndia #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/toVviVvvIQ
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 29, 2017
He has also surpassed Mohammad Azharuddin to take the second position in the list of Indian captains with most Test centuries.
100s as Indian Test captain
11 Sunil Gavaskar in 74 inns
10 Virat Kohli in 44
9 Mohd Azharuddin in 68
7 Sachin Tendulkar in 43 #SLvInd— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) July 29, 2017
Kohli had walked into bat when India were 56 for two in their second innings but the captain along with Abhinav Mukund batted the team to a position of strength by adding 133 runs for the third wicket. India declared their second innings on 240 for three, setting an improbable target of 550 for the hosts. Kohli remained unbeaten on 103 while Ajinkya Rahane scored 23.