Virat Kohli fell five runs short of a 29th half-century. Tribune photo: Vicky
Deepankar Sharda
Mohali, March 4
India had lost both their openers, Mayank Agarwal and skipper Rohit Sharma. The score read 80/2. The moment, for which the crowd had been waiting since morning, arrived — Virat Kohli walked out to bat. The PCA Stadium, witnessing one of its best spectator turnouts for a Test match, came alive.
It was a special moment not only for Kohli, who was playing in his 100th Test, but also for his fans. “It's a testament to everything that is great in our sport...sweat, discipline, courage, skill, determination, desire, focus. Congratulations to you and your family on this fantastic achievement. It's well deserved, well earned, and hopefully it is just the start of many things to come,” India coach Rahul Dravid said of Kohli. Dravid had presented former captain Kohli with a commemorative cap and a memento before the start of play.
With the crowd eager to watch the master at work, Kohli did not disappoint his fans. Kohli hit some breath-taking shots on his way to completing 8,000 runs in Test cricket. In his element, Kohli hit five boundaries in his knock before falling just short of a 29th half-century. Kohli hit his signature cover drives, along with his ferocious pull shots. Kohli added 90 runs with Hanuma Vihari for the fourth wicket to take India to comfort. He was looking set for a big score when he was bowled after failing to judge a Lasith Embuldeniya delivery. Kohli made 45 off 76 balls. India’s score read 170/3. As a disheartened Kohli returned to the pavilion, the crowd at the stadium started to thin out.
Vihari, who scored his fifth Test half-century, fell soon after. He scored 58 off 128 balls, with five boundaries, before being bowled by Vishwa Fernando. At 175/4, India seemed to be in a spot of bother again. But Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja provided the counterpunch to take India to 357/6 at stumps.
Pant was at his belligerent best as he smashed nine fours and four sixes in his 97-ball 96. Jadeja was unbeaten on 45 off 82 balls, having hit five boundaries.
Not bothered about milestones: Kohli
Virat Kohli, who felt like a "nervous debutant" in his 100th Test, said he was disappointed to not convert his start into a big score. "You obviously feel disappointed as a batsman. I need to be mindful and convert the 30s and 40s into big scores," Kohli said. Kohli has scored 27 Test centuries but his last hundred came in 2019 against Bangladesh. But the former captain said he wasn’t bothered by his scores. "I'm preparing exactly the way I've always prepared and as long as I'm batting well and playing well I'm not bothered at all," said Kohli. "As long as your focus is on the right things, I'm not too bothered about milestones. I'm batting well, and that for me is the most important." Keeping himself fit to play 100 Test matches needed a lot of discipline and lifestyle changes, Kohli said. “It's been tough from the point of view that I have played three formats of the game plus the IPL (Indian Premier League) every year for the last 10-11 years consistently," he added. "And that obviously is a big challenge in itself.”
6th batter to 8000
Virat Kohli became the sixth Indian batter to complete 8000 runs in Test cricket. He also became the 5th fastest in the country to reach the milestone. He joined the likes of Sachin Tendulkar (15,921), Rahul Dravid (13,288), Sunil Gavaskar (10,122), VVS Laxman (8,781) and Virender Sehwag (8,586). He also became the second player to reach the mark in the 100th Test. Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting had completed 8000 runs in his 100th Test.
Scoreboard
India 1st innings
M Agarwal lbw b Embuldeniya 33
R Sharma c Lakmal b Kumara 29
H Vihari b Fernando 58
V Kohli b Embuldeniya 45
R Pant b Lakmal 96
S Iyer lbw b de Silva 27
R Jadeja not out 45
R Ashwin not out 10
Extras: (lb 5, nb 9) 14
Total: (6 wickets, 85 overs) 357
FOW: 1-52, 2-80, 3-170, 4-175, 5-228, 6-332
Bowling O M R W
Suranga Lakmal 16 1 63 1
Vishwa Fernando 16 1 69 1
Lahiru Kumara 10.5 1 52 1
Lasith Embuldeniya 28 2 107 2
Dhananjaya de Silva 11 1 47 1
Charith Asalanka 3.1 0 14 0
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