Former India captain Virat Kohli got to his 30th hundred in Test cricket, his seventh in Australia in the format in Perth on Sunday. It was a long time coming and Kohli finally got to the three-figure mark in international cricket after 375 days.
Coming into Australia, Kohli had questions all over him, his form, and his future in Test cricket but the man made sure to show that he has 81 centuries in international cricket, not a joke.
Kohli with his 30th Test century went past Sir Donald Bradman, being tied with the Australia great on 29 hundreds for over a year. This was also Kohli’s seventh Test hundred in Australia in Tests and 10th overall Down Under as he broke the world record.
Kohli now has the most centuries for a visiting batter in Australia against Australia in international cricket as he went past England’s Jack Hobbs to script history.With his knock at the Optus Stadium in India’s second innings, Kohli went past Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 6 Test centuries in Australia, now the most by an Indian.
As soon as Kohli got to his century, captain Jasprit Bumrah called his lads as India declared on 487/6 with the former captain unbeaten on exactly 100 and Nitish Reddy batting on 38 off 27. India set a massive target of 534 for Australia to chase and Bumrah proved his decision to declare right in the very first over itself with the wicket of debutant Nathan McSweeney.
Earlier in the day, Yashasvi Jaiswal became the first Indian batter in Test cricket to make his first four centuries in the format to be 150+ scores.
The only other cricketer to achieve that feat in Test cricket is South Africa’s Greame Smith. During the course of their opening stand, Jaiswal and KL Rahul also became the first ever Indian pair to record a 200+ opening stand in Australia.
