England’s tour of India in 2016 is not only memorable for the home team’s emphatic 4-0 victory in the Test series, but also for the sensational batting performance by captain Virat Kohli across the five matches.
The right-hander won the player of the series award for scoring 655 runs in eight innings, which included two centuries and as many fifties.
Kohli’s highest score in that series came in the fourth Test at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, where he got 235 runs off 340 deliveries, with 25 fours and a six, to set up India’s series-clinching victory. This was the third out of seven Test double hundreds.
England batted first in that match and despite Ashwin Ravichandran getting a six-wicket haul, the visitors managed to get a total of 400 runs thanks to a century on debut by opening batsman Keaton Jennings.
India, however, replied with a mammoth 631 as Kohli put on a batting masterclass at the Wankhede. Murali Vijay got 136 at the top of the order and off-spinner Jayant Yadav too registered a century batting at No 9, but it was Kohli’s knock that completely deflated the opposition.
England had James Anderson, Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Jake Ball and Ben Stokes in their bowling attack but none of them could manage to trouble the India captain.
“I was pretty focused on this game, a chance to seal the series. The plan was to get stuck in,” said Kohli after the game.
“I got away quickly. I was nervous before this game. We had a bit of a collapse so I buckled down again. I kept the targets realistic – level the scores first then think about the lead. It’s about the belief you have. I’m very grateful that it came off for us. This series win is probably the sweetest we’ve had in recent times.”
Watch highlights of Kohli’s epic 235 here:
Here’s Kohli talking to the press at the end of that Wankhede Test:
And here’s a highlights package of Kohli’s stupendous performance in that 2016 Test series against England: