On Sunday evening, Virat Kohli dug in until he felt at home on the Perth pitch and then unleashed the full array of his strokes to delight the weekend crowd at the Optus Stadium with his first international century of 2024.
Virat’s ton, which came off 143 deliveries and is the 81st hundred of his international career, put India in command of the first Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy — after opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 161 and his 201-run opening partnership with KL Rahul (77).
Virat accelerated after reaching his half-century, as he possibly got a message from the dressing room about stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah’s decision to declare before the end of second day’s play.
Following the instructions, Kohli upped the tempo of his knock and ended with 8 fours and 2 sixes, well supported by the aggressive debutant Nitish Reddy (38*).
India declared soon after Kohli completed his century, at 487 for 6, to set Australia a mammoth 534 to win.
“Anushka has been right by my side through thick and thin,” Kohli said about his wife’s support during tough times, while talking to Fox Sports even before he left the park to join his teammates in the dressing room..
“She knows everything that goes on behind the scenes, knows what goes on in the head when you’re not performing well. I’m not a guy who hangs around for the sake of it. I take pride in performing for the country.”
Kohli’s 30th Test hundred in his 203rd innings across 119 Tests was his seventh in Australia, breaking the record of six hundreds hit by his fellow batting legend Sachin Tendulkar Down Under.
More to follow…
