Picture : BCCI / Twitter
It is not without any reason why Indian cricket skipper superstar Virat Kohli is the best young batsman in World cricket today. The 30-year-old modern day showed it yet again smashing his 25th Test hundred in the new stadium at Perth in the second Test of the series against Australia.
He thus became the second fastest to reach the 25 ton barrier . He attained the feat in his 127th innings. Aussie legend Don Bradman is first with 68 innings , Sachin Tendulkar is third with 130 innings.
Kohli reached his sixth century in Australia and seventh overall in style, playing a classic drive off Mitchell Starc.
On reaching the three-figure mark, Kohli removed his helmet and placed it on the green turf at the Optus Stadium. The Indian fans roared from the stands as their hero pointed at his bat and gestured with his fingers in a manner that suggested: ‘I let the bat do the talking’ rather than the mouth.
It was also Kohli’s sixth century in Australia, lifting him equal with Tendulkar as the only Indian batsmen to reach that tally, and gave him the honour of becoming the first Test centurion at the new Perth Stadium.
Ahead of this tour, Kohli had scored five hundreds — one in Adelaide in 2012 and four centuries if the 2014-15 tour which includes the twin hundreds at Adelaide.
Kohli is now the 11th batsman to complete 1000 Test runs in a calendar year overseas and the third Indian to achieve the mark after Rahul Dravid (1137 runs in 18 innings in 2002) and Mohinder Amarnath (1065 runs in 16 innings in 1983).
Kohli is also the first Indian skipper to breach the milestone and the third overall captain after Australia’s Bob Simpson and South Africa’s Graeme Smith.
Aussie leg spin wizard Shane Warne lauded Kohli’s stunning ton on his twitter handle
Congrats to @imVkohli on another magnificent 100. A completely different class to any other batsman playing international cricket & on the planet. An absolute joy to watch – well played ! India now have their noses ahead, 2nd new ball again an issue for the Aussies !
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) December 16, 2018
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan also praised Virat in a Tweet
If anyone has seen a better player across all the different formats then I haven’t seen him .. @imVkohli is incredible … Loved his ‘let the Bat do the talking ‘ celebration !! #AUSvIND #Perth
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) December 16, 2018
