Virat Kohli hits sixth double ton in Delhi Test, breaks Brian Lara’s record
With his double ton against Sri Lanka in the Delhi Test, Virat Kohli has surpassed West Indies great Brian Lara to become the first captain of a team to hit six double centuries in Test cricket
Virat Kohli continued his scintillating form and smashed his sixth double century as the Indian cricket team looked set to pile on a mammoth first innings total on Day 2 of the third and final Test against Sri Lanka at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground. (IND v SL 3rd Test UPDATES | SCORECARD)
“The greatest batsman of his generation. He is on a different level to any current batsmen.” – tweeted Kevin Pietersen on Saturday. A deserving praise for the Indian captain, who has shown extraordinary form in the last two years.
Resuming at 156, Kohli was a bit cautious early on before he flicked a Suranga Lakmal delivery through mid-wicket for his first boundary of the day. There was no attempt to manufacture shots. He picked the gaps with ease and hammered the loose balls to the fence.
Virat Kohli reached the landmark when he pulled a short ball from Lakmal towards mid-wicket for a double. His innings included 25 fours.
In the process, he also surpassed West Indies great Brian Lara to become the first captain of a team to hit six Test double centuries.
The Delhi cricketer now has two double centuries against Sri Lanka and one each vs West Indies, New Zealand, England and Bangladesh.
Kohli was finally dismissed for 243, his highest Test score.
He joined the likes of Marvan Atapattu, Virender Sehwag, Javed Miandad, Younis Khan, Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar – all of who have six double centuries and is also the first player to record three double centuries each in two different years.
It is pertinent to mention that all his double centuries have come since he has taken over the captaincy from MS Dhoni, who retired from the longest format after the Melbourne Test against Australia in December 2014.
Playing in his 63rd Test, Kohli became the 11th Indian batsman to complete 5000 Test runs, and that too in front of his home fans, when he reached 25.
The 29-year-old batsman had struck a century in the drawn first Test in Kolkata and then a brilliant 213 in the second game in Nagpur to guide India to a huge win by an innings and 239 runs.
