Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Friday added yet another feather on his already illustrious cap by becoming the first batsman of the country to score seven double centuries in the longest format of the game.
The 30-year-old reached the mark on the second day of the ongoing second Test against South Africa at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Thursday. Kohli clipped a Senuran Muthusam delivery fine past square leg to achieve the landmark with two runs in his 81st Test match and 50th Test as captain.
En route to his blistering knock, Kohli smashed a number of records. He surpassed former opener Virender Sehwag and legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar for the most double hundreds in Test cricket by an Indian.
Kohli, who scored his first twin century against the West Indies in 2016, also went past former Australian cricketer Don Bradman’s tally of 6,996 runs in Test cricket. With 7,000 runs in 81 Test matches, he also became the third-fastest Indian and joint fourth-fastest overall to amass these many runs.
Earlier in the day, Kohli had equalled former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting’s record of scoring maximum number of Test centuries as captain. The Indian skipper had notched up his 26th Test hundred and 19th as captain in red-ball cricket.
Kohli and Ponting are now placed jointly at the second spot below former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith, who has 25 Test tons in his tally.
Not only this, he also went passed legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar to become the fourth fastest player to reach 26 Test centuries in terms of innings played. Kohli took 138 innings to reach the mark, while the former India cricketer scored his 26th Test ton in 144 innings.
Kohli eventually finished the innings with an unbeaten score of 254, including 33 boundaries and two sixes. He also shared a huge 225-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja (91) for the fifth wicket to help India declare their first innings at 601/5 on Day 2.
Source: Zee News