Virat Kohli Virat Kohli's 28th Test ton puts India in driver's seat
Ahmedabad: Star India batsman Virat Kohli's 28th Test saw India trailing Australia by just 8 runs with five wickets in hands on Day 4 of the fourth Test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Narendra Modi Stadium here on Sunday.
At tea, India were 472/5 in reply to Australia's first innings total of 480 runs.
All eyes were on Kohli in the post-lunch session, and he did not disappoint his fans as he ended his Test century drought by slamming an unbeaten 135.
The iconic batsman had scored his last Test century on 22 November 2019 in a day-night Test against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens.
Kohli took 241 balls to reach triple figures, and it was his 75th century in international ton, and it has put India in a strong position in the match.
While Kohli hogged the limelight, Srikar Bharat showcased his batsmanship as to why coach Rahul Dravid and Captain Rohit Sharma trust in his abilities. But he fell before he could muster a fifty.
Axar Patel came in and batted extremely well, given the kind of form he is in. Australian bowlers toiled again and had only one wicket in the second session.
In the morning session, Kohli and the left-handed Rabindra Jadeja started cautiously against a persistent spin attack with Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy, applying pressure on them.
Jadeja, who adopted a defensive approach, tried an adventurous shot but ended up chipping it to mid-on where Usman Khawaja took the catch off Todd Murphy.
Kohli kept up the grind alongside Bharat, who was sent in because Shreyas Iyer went for scans after he complained of lower back pain following day three's play.
Brief Scores: Australia 480 (Usman Khawaja 180, Cameron Green 114; R Ashwin 6-91) lead India 472/5 (Virat Kohli 135*, Shubman Gill 128, Virat Kohli 88*, Cheteshwar Pujara 42; Todd Murphy 2-86) by 8 runs
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
