The former Indian captain and the superstar of their batting department, Virat Kohli, has extended the road of most international centuries as the active player of the game during the opening Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
There has been more pressure on the batter for the last two years, having notched up only two centuries in the longest format of the game, one of which came in West Indies and the other one against the Pat Cummins-led side last year at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Virat Kohli was coming into the series on the back of his 93 runs in six innings at an average of 15.5 with the help of only one fifty that came at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. When it comes to his performance with the bat in the ongoing year, he has clubbed 355 runs in 14 innings at an average of 29.58 with a strike rate of 70.
In the year before, Virat Kohli dashed 671 runs at an average of 55.91 with a strike rate of over 54.93, shouldering on two centuries and as many half-centuries with the best score of 186. It wasn’t a smooth start for the veteran in the first innings of the Perth Test, as he was undone by the short ball.
Virat Kohli notches up 81st International century
The Delhi-born was leaning much on the front foot because of his recent dismissals against the short balls. Josh Hazlewood threw the challenge of those balls, and the batter finally got an edge of the blade. When he walked into the middle on the second ball of the second session of the third day’s play, the situation and the surface had changed a lot.
The on-drive that went for a boundary gave so much confidence to Virat Kohli, who later played the upper-cut shot for a six. The head was stable, with the runs flowing comfortably from the bat of the veteran. He soon reached his half-century. A bit later, India began to charge down the big shorts with the aim being putting up some quick runs on the board.
The former captain charged down the pacer to nail the big shot as he reached into the 90s. The sweep short in the fine leg region took him a little moment to understand before he soaked the applause as he reached his 30thTest century.
Virat Kohli now has smacked 9145 runs in 203 innings of the red-ball format at an average of 48.13 and a strike rate of over 55 with the help of 30 centuries at the best score of 254. When it comes to his international record, the 36-year-old has celebrated 81 centuries, with the second being Joe Root, standing 51, a difference of 30 centuries in the end.
Virat will look to extend the same purple form for the rest of the series as India seeks to claim the opening game. They have already picked up three wickets towards the end of the day’s play.
