Praises and compliments have become a common thing for India captain Virat Kohli, and there is no denying the fact that he truly deserves them. Kohli has taken the cricket world by storm with his unique batting exploits which have put him well ahead of his contemporaries. No matter what the format is, what the venue is or how tough the conditions are, Kohli always manages to come out on top of the opposition.
The first Test against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens was the best example of how tough conditions and pressure did not deter the right-handed batsman from producing a master-class.
India were in a precarious position on the last day of the game after a batting collapse but Kohli, who had failed to open his account in the first innings, proved his class by not holding firm one end but also scored at a good pace. He eventually scored 104 not out off just 119 balls to not only bail the team out of trouble but even gave it a real chance of winning the game.
The knock, nonetheless, extended Kohli’s knack of shattering or creating records now and then. It was Kohli’s 18th century in Tests, and it helped him to become the second Indian batsman after the legendary Sachin Tendulkar to register 50 international hundreds. Kohli is now eighth in the list of most number of international centuries. Kohli also equalled Hashim Amla’s record of hitting the fastest 50 international centuries, reaching the landmark in his 348th innings.
With Kohli’s batting being a class above the rest, it is not at all surprising that no one would like to miss the action when the Indian run-machine comes to the crease and the fact that former England skipper Kevin Pietersen watched him play even after commentating the whole day in the ongoing Test proves it.
The ongoing game in Nagpur against Sri Lanka has clashed with the Ashes-opener in Brisbane, but instead of taking rest after a full day of commentary, Pietersen decided to watch the India star bat when he came out to bat after the massive 209-run stand Cheteshwar Pujara, and Murali Vijay came to an end.
Pietersen took to Twitter to say that he watches whenever Virat bats as he wrote: “Virat bats, I watch!.
Virat bats, I watch!
— Kevin Pietersen? (@KP24) November 25, 2017