Leading by example is a component of captaincy that weighs heaviest on the shoulders of leaders in sport. Many greats in cricket have been given the added responsibility of helming a side, but only a handful have thrived while juggling both jobs.

On Sunday, India’s current captain Virat Kohli also considered the team’s premiere batsman, produced a batting masterclass that not many in the cricketing world could have pulled off. He notched up his fifth double century in Test cricket, breaking along the way numerous records - national as well as international. His knock of 213 helped India pummel the visiting Sri Lankan outfit and placed India in a commanding position in the second Test.

Most of the records that Kohli has managed to break have a component of captaincy associated with them. Not many Indian captains have been able to keep up their high standards of batting, while also leading the team.

Kohli, though, has owned the part like he was born for it.

With his effort on Sunday, Kohli equalled West Indies legend Brian Lara for most 200s by a captain, bettering the tally of great Don Bradman, South Africa skipper Graeme Smith and Australia captain Michael Clarke. He also became the first captain to score 10 international centuries in a calendar year, surpassing the likes of Smith and Australia stalwart Ricky Ponting.

No Indian captain has managed to notch up so many triple-digit scores while also heading the side. Through his ton on Sunday, he also bettered Sunil Gavaskar’s tally of 11 centuries scored while leading then India outfit.

The fact that Kohli is just 29 make these records even more praiseworthy, in that they are most likely to be broken in the foreseeable future by the man who registered them on Sunday.

In fact, since taking up the captaincy role, the Delhi lad has thrived. Among captains with minimum 10 hundreds in Tests, Kohli has the best conversion rate, even better than Bradman and Michael Clarke.

In the 31 Tests that Kohli has led the team, he has crossed the 50-run mark 16 times and scored a hundred on 12 occasions. This makes it a staggering 75 percent conversion rate. Both Bradman and Clarke’s conversion rate from 50 to 100 as captains has been 66.66 percent.

Hunger for runs

Kohli also tops the charts when it comes to the current top 10 batsmen in the world with respect to conversion rates. At 57.58%, the right-hand batsman has a better conversion rate than Steve Smith, Pujara, David Warner, Hashim Amla and Kane Williamson.

While India’s long home season last year, might be a major reason behind the volume of runs, it is the sheer hunger that seems to be driving him to keep the runs flowing. In the past year and a half, Kohli’s series average has fallen below 50 only in one series among the seven India has played. The blip came against Australia came earlier this year, when he tallied just 9.20 in the three games he played. Kohli has managed to hit at least one century in all of the other six.

“I think it’s his confidence,” said Cheteshwar Pujara when asked to describe Kohli’s striking ability in the longest format. “The way he is batting since last two to three years, it would have been difficult for any other batsman to score at such a strike rate,” said Pujara at the end of Day 3 during which he shared a 183-run stand with Kohli for the third wicket.

Kohli had raced to his half-century on Day 2 with a strike rate of 77.14. On Sunday, there was no let up. He reached his ton without facing any trouble from the Sri Lankan bowlers. By the time he exited after making 213 runs, his strike rate stood at 79.77, more than any other Indian batsman.

As many as four Indian batsmen reached the three-figure mark, the Delhi lad, though, managed to underscore his superiority by reaching the next big landmark.

Intent is to perform

“If I can step up and perform, that will give me more pleasure than thinking of the number of hundreds I have. That will remain the mindset till I play this game,” Kohli had said after scoring his 50th Test ton in the previous game at Eden Gardens.

The intent is important. It is a word he harps on ever so often. Since 2016, Kohli has smashed eight triple-digit scores. He got out just once without converting them into double centuries.

The numbers indicate, that he does not just aim for a hundred and looks to play beyond the landmark. Most of his tons are ‘daddy’ hundreds. That he is fitter than most cricketers in the world also plays its part in keeping him at the crease for a long time.

To his credit, he seldom loses focus in the nineties. In fact, in Kolkata, he reached his landmark ton with a six. The fear of not getting a hundred is quite diluted, given that he always has a bigger target in mind. He has a team to lead by example and shown that he is all the more better for it.