Virat Kohli completed a brilliant double hundred to stretch India’s lead to 179 on the fourth morning of the fourth Test at the Wankhede Stadium. This is Kohli’s third double hundred; all three have come during his dream run in 2016. He has hit four hundreds this season, with 167 against England in Visakhapatnam being his lowest score.
Kohli’s third double hundred at Mumbai follows the 200 versus West Indies in July (Antigua) and 211 against New Zealand in October (Indore).
On Sunday morning, the India skipper moved to 191 with a flicked four off James Anderson, in the same over he ran him down to the third man to move to 195. There was no sign of fatigue either, haring through for a double after pushing Moeen Ali into the covers to move to 198.
He drove leg-spinner Adil Rashid through midwicket to reach the coveted mark. In a marathon stay of 450 minutes at the crease, Kohli faced 302 balls and hit 23 fours in his 200.
From Adelaide to Mumbai, Virat Kohli has been India’s best batsman in the longer version. From the time he took over as Test captain from MS Dhoni there has been a marked difference in Kohli’s temperament. Now he is not content with scoring only hundreds.
With the extra responsibility of leading the team, the scores have become bigger. After 141 at Adelaide, his next two hundreds were 169 and 147. There have been two double hundreds since then, a 167 at Vishakapatnam, in the second Test of the ongoing series, and then this innings.
Kohli played the situation brilliantly. Despite being the senior batsman, he was content to play second fiddle when his No 9 Jayant Yadav, went on a boundary hitting spree.
India added 78 runs in the first hour of play in 16 overs.
In the process, Kohli and Yadav bettered India’s all time eighth wicket record when they crossed 161. The earlier record was between Mohammed Azharuddin and Anil Kumble, against South Africa, in 1996 at Kolkata.
