Virat Kohli becomes second-quickest batsman in history to register 24 Test tons

Sudhir Gupta 11:28 05/10/2018
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  • Kohli hasn't managed to master Test chases this year.

    Virat Kohli’s imperious 2018 continued with the skipper slamming his 24th ton in the first Test between India and the West Indies at Rajkot.

    After Prithvi Shaw’s record debut ton put the hosts in a strong position on day one, it was Kohli’s turn to take centre stage on Friday.

    Having put 72 runs on the board on day one, Kohli was content to sit back and let Rishabh Pant’s bat do the talking on day two.

    The young wicketkeeper batsman batted aggressively in the morning session and dealt primarily in boundaries.

    Kohli, on the other hand, was more circumspect in his approach and waited on the loose deliveries to pounce.

    The 29-year-old ultimately brought up his 24th Test ton in the first session of Friday itself. The 123 innings taken by the right-handed batsman to reach the milestone is the second quickest in the history of the format, behind only the legendary Sir Donald Bradman of Australia.

    Kohli beat his idol Sachin Tendulkar to that accolade, taking two innings fewer than the former India batting maestro to notch up 24 Test tons.

    The century at Rajkot also helped Kohli overtake Australian batsman Steve Smith’s tally (23).

    Post-lunch on day two, Kohli registered another feat by bringing up his 1,000th Test run in the calendar year with a gorgeous straight drive off pacer Sherman Lewis.

    This means that the India stalwart has now registered at least 1,000 runs in his last three calendar years. In 2016, he had scored 1,215 runs while in 2017 he had notched up 1,059 runs.

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