Virat Kohli, who is leading India for the 50th time in Tests, brought up his 26th ton in the longer format in the first session on second day of the ongoing second Test at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium
Pune: India captain Virat Kohli celebrated his landmark Test with a superb century against South Africa here in Pune on Friday (October 11).
Kohli, who is leading India for the 50th time in Tests, brought up his 26th ton in the longer format in the first session on second day of the ongoing second Test at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium.
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A magnificent straight drive off paceman Vernon Philander in the 109th over of India’s innings helped Kohli reach the three-figure mark. This was also Kohli’s first Test century in the year 2019.
Kohli is only the second Indian captain to lead the team in 50 or more Tests. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the other Indian having led in 60 Tests.
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The 30-year-old Kohli has made it a habit of scoring runs in every format and shattering records. During the current innings, his Test batting average (53.93) surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s (53.78). However, if he has to maintain that he has to score at least 140 in this innings.
Tendulkar holds record for most centuries in the five-day format. He has 51 hundreds from a world record 200 Tests.
Thanks to Kohli’s ton and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane’s half century, India continued to dominate the second Test against the Proteas. At lunch, the hosts were 356/3 in 113 overs. Kohli is unbeaten on 104 and Rahane is 58 not out.
Kohli took 138 innings to reach 26 Test hundreds. The record holder is Australian legend Sir Don Bradman, who achieved the feat in 69 innings. The next quickest is Steve Smith with 121 innings followed by Sachin Tendulkar (136). Kohli surpassed Sunil Gavaskar, who had taken 144 visits to the crease to reach the milestone.
India lead the three-Test series for Gandhi-Mandela Trophy 1-0. The third and final Test is in Ranchi from October 19.
69 innings — Don Bradman (Australia)
121 — Steve Smith (Australia)
136 — Sachin Tendulkar (India)
138 — Virat Kohli (India)
144 — Sunil Gavaskar (India)
145 — Matthew Hayden (Australia)
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