Virat Kohli proved again why he is considered the best batter of modern cricket. Kohli finally put a halt to his Test century drought as he clobbered his 28th Test century on Day 4 of the ongoing fourth match of the Border Gavaskar series on Sunday (March 12).
When the chips were down, it was Kohli who rose to the occasion and pummelled a spectacular 186 off 364 to steer India to a commanding 571 in reply of Australia's 480. With this ton he also brought up his 75th International ton and is only behind the great Sachin Tendulkar in terms of total ton tally. It was his first Test century in more than three years. Kohli, whose last Test century came way back in 2019, looked completely at ease against the Aussie bowlers and ended up scoring a well-deserved ton in 241 deliveries.
Riding on his splendid ton, Kohli emulated legendary Sunil Gavaskar's 40-year-old rare milestone. The fourth Test in Ahmedabad also marked Kohli's 50th Test at home and the run-machine made the most of it by smashing a cracking ton and made it memorable for a lifetime. The former India skipper Gavaskar did the same back in 1983, when he smashed a scintillating century on his 50th Test match at home against West Indies in Delhi.
Resuming the penultimate day on 289 for three, India rode on Kohli's first Test century in more than three years to get past the Australian total in the final session.
Kohli, who was overnight 59, ran out of partners and got out for 186 in 364 balls (15x4) to give India a 91-run first innings lead. Injured Shreyas Iyer did come out to bat. All-rounder Axar Patel played a counter-attacking 79 from 113 balls (5x4, 4x6) in a 162-run partnership with Kohli.
It was a special innings for the former India skipper who last scored a century in 2019 and his last fifty also came around 14 months back. However, there were jitters at all for Kohli during the fourth Test match as he dominated all Aussie bowlers and slammed a deserved ton in 241 balls.
Prior to his century in Ahmedabad, Kohli had gone 41 innings without scoring a century in Tests. During this time period, Kohli managed to score only six half-centuries in red-ball cricket. Also, this was Kohli's third century in 2023 after his two ODI hundreds against Sri Lanka earlier in the year.
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