Amidst growing criticism and mounting pressure, former India captain and maverick batter, Virat Kohli on March 12 (Sunday) did what he does best - convert the fifties into hundreds. The stylish right-handed batter smashed his 28th century in Tests and 75th in international cricket on Sunday against Australia at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad. In the process, Kohli ended his century drought in red-ball cricket that has lasted for 1,204 days. The Indian superstar had last cracked a ton in Test cricket in November 2019 against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata.
The swashbuckling batter brought up his century with a single off Nathan Lyon's over. Kohli took 241 balls to reach three figures and smashed just five boundaries in his resilient knock. It was Kohli's second-slowest ton in Test cricket.
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.
Throughout his dogged knock, Kohli put his head down and it did allow the Australians to control the proceedings on a slow deck. The maverick batter was getting the occasional single and double to keep the scoreboard moving. He didn't register even a single boundary on Day 4 and continued to grind against an Australian attack that kept things tight from both ends.
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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