Another series, another set of records, Virat Kohli was at it again as India sealed a 1-0 series win over Sri Lanka. The India captain was declared the man of the series, and deservedly so.
He notched up two double centuries in a series that has seen him amass 610 runs at an average of 152.50.
Considering the mountain of runs already under his belt, the latest run-scoring spree led to more records being broken by the 28-year-old.
The three-Test series versus Sri Lanka began unceremoniously for Virat Kohli – getting out plumb, for a duck, to Suranga Lakmal during the bowler’s brilliant opening spell in the first Test in Kolkata.
He bounced back in the next innings, scoring an unbeaten hundred that swung the momentum in the home team’s favour. The India captain followed it up with back-to-back double hundreds. In his final innings of the series and this year, he made a 58-ball 50, helping India amass a huge lead over the visiting Sri Lankans.
Here’s a look at the key records the India skipper smashed during the course of the three-Test series:
- 3rd: Virat Kohli, who’s made 2818 runs this year, was 51 runs short of surpassing Kumar Sangakkara as the batsman with most international runs in a calendar year. Sangakkara, in 2014, made 2868 runs at an average of 53.11 in 48 matches across three formats. Australia’s Ricky Ponting is placed second on that list with 2833 runs, scored in 2005 at an average of 56.6 from 46 games. Kohli is now third, bettering his tally of 2595 runs from 2016.
- 1st: Kohli is the first Indian captain to aggregate 1000 runs in two successive years.
- 3: Thrice Kohli has made over 600 runs in a Test series (includes series with three Tests, four Tests and five Tests). He became the first Indian to achieve the feat. Former Indian captains Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar scored 600+ runs twice in their careers.
- 3rd: Only Don Bradman and Mohammad Yousuf has made more runs than Kohli in a Test series taking up five or fewer innings. The Indian skipper made 610 runs this series. Bradman, in five innings, made 806 runs against South Africa in 1931-32. Yousuf, against the West Indies in 2006-07, made 665 runs in five innings.
- 0: As captain, no one has more double tons than Kohli. He surpassed some of the greatest names in cricket when he struck his sixth double hundred as captain on Sunday. Brian Lara had five double hundreds as captain; Don Bradman, Michael Clarke and Graeme Smith all made four.
- 2nd: The India skipper became only the second captain after Australia’s Michael Clarke to score double tons in consecutive Test innings.
- 4th: Kohli also became the fourth Indian to score a Test double century against five different opponents.
- 10: Kohli (10 hundreds this year) also went ahead of Ponting (9 in 2005 and ‘06) and Graeme Smith (9 in 2005) in the list for the most hundreds by a captain in a calendar year.
- 6: With six double tons, Kohli has also equaled Sehwag and Tendulkar’s tally for most 200-plus scores in Tests for India
- 1: Kohli’s 243 against Sri Lanka is the highest individual score by an Indian captain in Tests. With the latest score he broke his own record of 235 that came against England in 2016.
- 3: With his latest double ton, Kohli has now scored three in 2017. This was the sixth instance of a batsman scoring three double hundreds in a calendar year and Kohli became the first to do so in two years. He had three 200+ scores in 2016 as well.
- 9: Kohli has now led India to nine consecutive Test series wins.
- 31: India registered 31 wins this season under Kohli, equaling Ponting’s tally for most wins in a calendar year for a captain.
- 3rd: With 610 against Sri Lanka in the three-match series, Kohli now has the most runs in a Test series batting five or fewer innings. Bradman had scored 806 against South Africa in 1931-32 (5 Tests), while Mohammad Yusuf scored 665 against West Indies in 2006-07 (3 Tests).