Anurag Kumar
The delay is at an end. After nearly five years, Team India’s star batter Virat Kohli eventually reached a century in an overseas Test match. Kohli scored his 29th century in the longest format of the game on Day 2 of the second and final Test of the series against the West Indies; his last century in overseas Tests occurred in December 2018 when India toured Australia. Then, in the second innings of the match at Perth, he scored 123 runs to reach the century mark. In Port of Spain, however, Kohli’s century takes on added significance.
The 34-year-old batsman scored a century in his 500th international match; in comparison, only Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni have played that many matches for India. On Day 1, Kohli also surpassed former opener Virender Sehwag (8586) to become the fifth-highest run scorer for the team. Now that the India star has scored a century, it is evident that this has been a memorable Test match.
Sir Donald Bradman, an Australian legend and one of the greatest batsmen in cricket history, scored 29 Test centuries during his illustrious career. Only Tendulkar, Dravid, and Sunil Gavaskar are ahead of him in the list of Indians with the most century scores. In addition, this was his second century in West Indies and his third century against the Windies in the longest format.
Kohli also surpassed Tendulkar in the tally of most hundreds in the West Indies by hitting his second century on Caribbean soil. The batsman is, however, still behind Sunil Gavaskar (7), Rahul Dravid, Dilip Sardesai, and Polly Umrigar (each with three tonnes).
Virat Kohli’s innings did not get off to a particularly typical start, due in part to the fast wickets that were taken as soon as he reached the crease. Rohit Sharma (80) departed just three overs after Kohli’s entry, and Shubman Gill (10) and Ajinkya Rahane (8) also fell in rapid succession, prompting Kohli to play cautiously in the first few overs as he partnered with Ravindra Jadeja.
As soon as he was established at the crease, runs began to flow, and Kohli reached his fifty as the pair rebuilt the Indian innings. The batter reached fifty in the 66th over, increased his scoring rate, and remained unbeaten with 87 runs at the conclusion of the day.
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Kohli hit his first boundary of Day 2 on the final delivery of the fourth over, a beautiful flick towards deep square leg off Kemar Roach. He eventually reached his century against Shannon Gabriel with a signature cover drive.
