Virat Kohli was the talk of the fourth Test match between India and Australia on Day 3 in Ahmedabad, with his celebration of Shubman Gill’s century and his first 50+ score in the last 14 months.
Moreover, India is eyeing to take a handy lead after the Aussies put 480 on board in their first innings. With Gill’s ton and Kohli’s fifty–India managed to score 289 runs for the loss of three wickets at the stumps on Day 3.
The 34-year-old went past 4000 Test runs in India over the course of his fifty on Day 3. He became the third fastest to reach the mark in the country, having got there in 77 innings, and went past Rahul Dravid (88)–and the legendary Sunil Gavaskar (87) in that elusive list. Before the fourth test, Kohli needed 42 runs to reach the milestone–and he got there in the final session with a boundary off Nathan Lyon.
The former Indian skipper also has an average of 58.82 in India, which is the highest among batters who have scored 4,000 Test runs in the country.
The right-handed batter surpassed West Indies veteran Brian Lara to become the second-highest scorer in international cricket against Australia.
While the legend Lara with his high backlift and flamboyant style scored 4714 runs in 82 matches (108 innings) with 12 tons and 26 half-centuries against the Aussies. The former West Indies skipper retired from all formats of the game in 2007.
Moment between Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli. pic.twitter.com/EgLvJ3jNbz
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 11, 2023
The former India skipper has been going through a lean patch in Tests for quite some time now. He has not scored a Test century in the longest format of the game since 2019. His last century in Tests came against Bangladesh during the Eden Gardens Test almost 4 years ago.
Such has been his form in recent months that prior to the ongoing game, he had not scored a fifty in Tests since January 2022. Virat Kohli’s last fifty in Tests had come against South Africa in January last year during the Cape Town Test.
Virat Kohli walked out to bat when India was placed at 87 for 2. He and Shubman Gill shared 58 runs for the third wicket before Nathan Lyon dismissed the latter for 128.
Meanwhile, at Lunch on Day 4, India 362/4, Virat Kohli and KS Bharat are on the crease with 88 and 25 runs respectively.