Adding another feather to his illustrious cap, Virat Kohli on Saturday equalled Australian great Ricky Ponting’s record of 41 international centuries as captain.
Kohli stood out with his dominant knock and completed his 27th century before falling to a stunning catch by Taijul Islam.
Kohli brought up his 70th overall ton with a brace off Taijul in the 68th over, on the second day of India’s maiden day-night Test in Kolkata against Bangladesh.
With the century, Kohli’s 20th as India captain in Tests, the talismanic batsman also surpassed Ponting’s tally of 19 Test tons as skipper. Only former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith has more centuries than Kohli with 25 tons to his name as captain.
Picking up from where he left off at the end of day one, Kohli built crucial partnerships including a 99-run stand with overnight partner Rahane.
The star batsman smashed paceman Abu Jayed for four straight boundaries in one over before finishing with 18 fours in his 194-ball stay.
Kohli put on a masterclass in front-foot batting on his way to yet another Test century. During the course of his century, the quality of driving stood out as he clinically dismantled the Bangladeshi bowlers.
On Friday, Kohli had become the fastest to 5000 runs as captain, completing the feat in 86 innings during day one of the pink ball Test.
Here are the statistical highlights from day two in Kolkata:
Most centuries (Tests/ODIs/T20Is) as captain
Player | Combined # of innings | Runs | Ave | 100s | 50s |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
V Kohli (INDIA) | 188 | 10663 | 67.06 | 41 | 37 |
RT Ponting (AUS/ICC) | 376 | 15440 | 45.54 | 41 | 88 |
GC Smith (Afr/ICC/SA) | 368 | 14878 | 43.12 | 33 | 77 |
SPD Smith (AUS) | 118 | 5885 | 57.13 | 20 | 27 |
MJ Clarke (AUS) | 171 | 7060 | 47.38 | 19 | 25 |
BC Lara (WI) | 204 | 8410 | 45.45 | 19 | 37 |
DPMD Jayawardene (Asia/SL) | 205 | 7673 | 41.70 | 18 | 35 |
AR Border (AUS) | 319 | 11062 | 41.27 | 17 | 63 |
SR Waugh (AUS) | 172 | 6299 | 43.44 | 17 | 26 |
- As Kohli asked Mohammad Shami and Wriddhiman Saha to return to the dressing room, India extended their streak of not being bowled out in an innings.
- Bangladesh’s batting woes were summed up by the dreadful run of their openers as well as a pair of ducks for skipper Mominul Haque.
(With PTI inputs)