The already strong bond between Virat Kohli and the Adelaide Oval got stronger on Wednesday, when the 33-year-old starred with a a brilliant unbeaten 44-ball 64 against Bangladesh in their 5-run win at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

After the Player of the Match effort in which he anchored an Indian innings that stuttered after being set up by opener KL Rahul, the former India skipper acknowledged his love affair with the Adelaide Oval.

“I absolutely love playing in this ground,” he said. “Right from the nets at the back, as soon as I enter, it makes me feel at home,” said Kohli in the post-match presentation.

He added: “That knock at MCG was meant to be, but when I come here, it’s like I’m meant to come to Adelaide and enjoy my batting.”

Kohli, who became ICC Men’s T20 World Cup’s leading run-scorer, generally has great numbers in Australia. He has scored 3350 runs in 68 innings at an average of 56.77 across formats. But, his numbers are exceptionally impressive numbers on this ground.

In Test cricket, he has three hundreds and a fifty in four matches since 2012, totaling 509 runs at an average of 63.62. The venue has held a special place for him as his first century here came in 2014 in the first innings of the first Test, where he scored 116. However, it was the second Test during the next tour that Kohli produced perhaps, his best performance at the Adelaide Oval with a century in both the innings – 115 in the first, 141 in the second. Although it wasn’t a century but his 74 during the first Test India’s Tour of Australia in 2020 was also particularly special.

His record in One Day Internationals is similarly impressive, with four visits to the crease yielding two hundreds. His first one, 107 off 126 balls, came against Pakistan in the 2015 World Cup. His second came against hosts Australia in India’s Tour of Australia in 2020, where he scored 104 off 122 balls in the second ODI.

And now, in T20Is, he has 154 runs at a strike rate of 155.55 in two innings, with his undefeated 64 coming after a 90-run knock in 2016. He is yet to be dismissed in this format at this ground. The last time Kohli played on this ground, in this format, he scored an unbeaten 55-ball 90 in the first T20I.

Virat Kohli's numbers at Adelaide

Format Runs 4s 6s SR Opposition Start Date
T20Is 90* 9 2 163.63 v Australia 26 Jan 2016
64* 8 1 145.45 v Bangladesh 2 Nov 2022
ODIs 18 1 0 64.28 v Australia 12 Feb 2012
15 1 0 60.00 v Sri Lanka 14 Feb 2012
107 8 0 84.92 v Pakistan 15 Feb 2015
104 5 2 92.85 v Australia 15 Jan 2019
Tests 116 11 1 54.46 v Australia 24 Jan 2012
22 2 0 35.48 v Australia 24 Jan 2012
115 12 0 62.50 v Australia 9 Dec 2014
141 16 1 80.57 v Australia 9 Dec 2014
3 0 0 18.75 v Australia 6 Dec 2018
34 3 0 32.69 v Australia 6 Dec 2018
74 8 0 41.11 v Australia 17 Dec 2020
4 1 0 50.00 v Australia 17 Dec 2020

“As soon as I knew the WC was in Australia, I was grinning from ear to ear,” Kohli added in the post-match chat.

“I knew good cricketing shots would be the key. I knew the kind of experience and game awareness of having played in Australia will come in handy for the team.”