Virat Kohli Surpasses Brian Lara, Takes Giant Lead Over Joe Root, Steve Smith After Magnificent Century Vs West Indies
Virat Kohli produced a sublime performance during the second Test of the series against West Indies, smashing his 29th century in the longest format of the game.
The India batter reached the mark on Day 2 of the Test, also bringing his 76th international ton. The century has added relevance for Virat Kohli as this was his 500th match for Team India across all formats – only the fourth Indian to reach the mark after Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and MS Dhoni.
Kohli reached his 29th century in Tests with a boundary against Shannon Gabriel, and also entered an elite list of players with most centuries at, perhaps, the most revered batting position in Test cricket – no.4. The 34-year-old batter succeeded one of the batting greats in Sachin Tendulkar as India’s no.4 all the way back in 2013, and eased into the role with perfection. It comes as no surprise that Kohli was already among the top-5 for most Test hundreds at the position; on Friday, though, the star batter surpassed West Indies great Brian Lara in the count.
Lara had retired with 24 centuries to his name at no.4. Kohli smashed his 25th on Day 2, and is now only behind Tendulkar, Jacques Kalls, and Mahela Jayawardene. Take a look at the top-5 centurions at no.4 in Test history:
- Sachin Tendulkar (India) – 44
- Jacques Kallis (South Africa) – 35
- Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka) – 30
- Virat Kohli (India) – 25
- Brian Lara (West Indies) – 24
Among active cricketers, England’s former captain Joe Root is the closest to Kohli with 19 centuries at no.4. Steve Smith also has the same number of tons as Root at the position. The trio is largely considered a part of the Fab-4 in international cricket – the fourth being Kane Williamson. However, the New Zealand batter plays at no.3 for the side in the longest format.
Thanks to Kohli’s brilliant knock and contributions from Rohit Sharma (80), Ravindra Jadeja (61), and Ravichandran Ashwin (56), India ended their first innings at 438 in Port of Spain. The side is leading the two-match series 1-0.