India’s talismanic batter, Virat Kohli, finally brought up his 30th Test hundred, as India gave Australia a whopping target of 534 runs to chase in Perth. India rode on the brilliant opening stand by Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul, who put 201 on the board for the first wicket, before Kohli soared to form with a century in the second innings of the match, on Sunday. India declared the innings right after Virat scored a ton, and Kohli didn’t spare even a single critic who had been questioning his place in the team during the mid-innings chat with the broadcaster.
Heading back to the dressing room after a historic ton, that saw him zoom past Sir Donald Bradman, Kohli narrated how his wife Anushka Sharma saw what all he went through during the rough patch with the bat. He also asserted that he isn’t in the team just to hang around.
“Anushka has been right by my side through thick and thin. She knows everything that goes on behind the scenes. Knows what goes on in the head when you’re not performing well. I’m not a guy who hangs around for the sake of it. I take pride in performing for the country,” Virat said during the innings break.
Hear the praise for Anushka Sharma from Virat Kohli himself. He looks very relieved For the 81st Century his success feels personal.
#TeamIndia#ViratKohli? #INDvAUS
#AnushkaSharma #BorderGavaskarTrophy #AUSvsIND pic.twitter.com/46rM4GWtJj— (@CopSandhya) November 24, 2024
Many former cricketers like Sanjay Manjrekar and Ricky Ponting had made some debate-stirring comments over Virat Kohli, speaking of his barren run of form of late. However, Virat ensured that he responded to those ‘experts’ with his bat.
It was Kohli’s 7th hundred in the longest format of the game in Australia, going past Sachin Tendulkar‘s tally of 6. It was also his 10th hundred against the opponents in all formats, making him the first player to do so in the history of the game.
When it comes to performances against a single team, Kohli matched the legendary Sunil Gavaskar in the list of batters with the most centuries against a single opponent away from home in Tests (seven). Gavaskar also has the same number of tons against West Indies in red-ball cricket, while playing away.