Kohli goes past Don Bradman's record of most 150-plus scores as captain

Playing in his 50th Test as captain, Virat Kohli went past late Sir Donald Bradman’s record of most number of 150-plus scores as skipper.

India skipper Virat Kohli en route his double ton against South Africa in Pune on Friday.

 

Records tumbled as India captain Virat Kohli raced to his seventh double century in Tests, against South Africa at the Maharashtra Cricket Association International Stadium on Friday.

His knock of 200 came off 295 balls and was crafted with 28 boundaries.

Playing in his 50th Test as the captain, Kohli also went past late Sir Donald Bradman’s record of most number of 150-plus scores as a skipper. While the Australian legend had gone past the 150 run-mark on eight occasions, Kohli now has nine in his kitty.

Kohli’s last double century was at the Feroz Shah Kotla in 2017, where he scored 243 against Sri Lanka. In that series, the captain had also come up with a knock of 213 at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur.

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Against a South Africa bowling line-up which failed to make an impact, Kohli also hammered his first Test ton of the year, in eleven innings.

Resuming the day on 63, Kohli forged a 178-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Ajinkya Rahane. This, incidentally, is also the highest fourth-wicket partnership for India against South Africa. The previous highest was 145 by Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid in Johannesburg in the 1996-97 series.

With the region witnessing incessant rain over the fortnight, it was a challenge for the batsmen to tackle the South African quicks Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada. But with Kohli in perfect shape, the Proteas pacers struggled to keep King Kohli quiet.

Kohli's previous double hundreds 243: vs Sri Lanka in Delhi (December 2, 2017) 235: vs England in Mumbai (December 8, 2016) 213: vs Sri Lanka in Nagpur (November 24, 2017) 211: vs New Zealand in Indore (October 8, 2016) 204: vs Bangladesh in Hyderabad (February 9, 2017) 200: vs West Indies in North Sound (July 21, 2016)