Kohli emulates Sir Don with 29th Test hundred in India's 438; Windies batters fight back
Port of Spain (PTI): Virat Kohli equalled Sir Don Bradman's record of 29 hundreds in India's commendable first innings score of 438 but their bowlers found it a tough grind as West Indies ended second day on 86 for 1 in the second Test here.
Kohli, who missed out on a hundred in the previous Test, made amends with a polished 121 in 206 balls, his 76th hundred in 500 international appearance.
In the process, Kohli also added 159 runs for the fifth wicket with Ravindra Jadeja (61 off 152 balls), who also scored his 19th half-century in Tests.
Ravichandran Ashwin (56 off 78 balls), with four hundreds against the same opposition, did look comfortable against both spin and pace as he played some adventurous ramp shots off Kemar Roach to help himself to a half-century and take his team closer to 450.
West Indies openers displayed a solid defensive game before Jadeja (1/12 in 10 overs) prevailed after playing with young Tagenarine Chanderpaul's (33 off 95 balls) patience.
The southpaw tried to loft a delivery that landed on the rough and the thick outside edge was taken at point by his spin bowling partner Ashwin.
However, the pitch, which is getting slower with the passage of time, didn't have much for the bowlers as the new Dukes ball was changed at least thrice in the first 20 overs on the insistence of the Indian team which found it going out of shape.
The change of ball didn't bring any change in fortune for the Indian bowlers as the dependable West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite (37 batting, 128 balls) and stodgy Chanderpaul survived nearly 35 out of 41 overs without much difficulty.
They mostly defended with a few boundaries in between. Brathwaite had debutant Kirk Mckenzie (14 batting, 25 balls) for company.
There was no carry off the surface and the inexperienced pace attack of Mohammed Siraj (0/23 in 7 overs), Jaydev Unadkat (0/12 in 6 overs) and Mukesh Kumar (0/10 in 4 overs) couldn't produce anything 'out of the box' on a literally dead track.
Ashwin (0/29 in 14 overs) and Jadeja were certainly better bets for providing breakthrough but the West Indies opening duo gave a much better account of themselves compared to Dominica Test. There was no turn on offer and skipper Rohit Sharma would expect that pitch would do some trick to aid his slow bowlers on the third day.
Kohli's first overseas ton in nearly five years
The first session of the second day undoubtedly belonged to Kohli, who was hardly troubled by any of the West Indies pacers, having taken 77 runs in singles, doubles and triples apart from the 11 boundaries in his innings.
Starting the day at 87, Kohli reached his century in the first half an hour while dispatching a Roach delivery wide of point with a stretched square drive. The wide grin while raising his bat and then taking a bow said it all.
The satisfaction of scoring his first overseas Test hundred in half a decade was palpable, having last scored a ton on foreign soil in Perth in 2018.
The Queens Park Oval track is certainly way better for strokeplay compared to first Test venue of Windsor Park in Dominica. One could hit through the line even though there were deliveries that were gripping off the surface and some that stopped and came onto the bat.
Kohli's greatness lay in his game awareness as the cornerstone of his innings was 45 singles and 13 doubles in energy sapping conditions.
He would be pleased because as many as nine of his 11 boundaries were hit on the off-side with the signature cover drive coming out of his closet time and again.
To his relief, the absence of off-break Rahkeem Cornwall did make things a bit easier as left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican (3/89 in 39 overs), despite his restrictive lines, did not get a lot of purchase off the surface.
Most of the deliveries come in with the angle and it was easier to just tickle it off his hips for singles and doubles.
Kohli got an able ally in Jadeja, who got another half-century and reaffirmed his status as a batting all-rounder in overseas conditions.
Once he was run-out and Jadeja also followed him after being rightly given out by TV Umpire despite DRS replay glitch, Ashwin was the lone ranger with a well-compiled fifty.
One person who would be disappointed will be Ishan Kishan (25), who played a tame shot after getting set and lost out on gaining a clear advantage over Kona Bharat.
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Noida International Airport appoints Nitu Samra as interim CEO
New Delhi (PTI): Noida International Airport on Friday announced the appointment of its Chief Financial Officer Nitu Samra as the interim Chief Executive Officer after authorities denied permission for foreign national Christoph Schnellmann to be at the helm.
"This change follows directions issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) that the Chief Executive Officer of an airport in India is required to be an Indian national," NIA said in a statement.
Samra will replace Schnellmann, a Swiss national who has led Noida International Airport (NIA) as the CEO since August 2020.
The regulatory issue related to the requirement of having an Indian national as CEO has been delaying the start of commercial operations of the airport, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 28.
Schnellmann will join the airport's Board of Directors as Executive Vice Chairman. In this role, he will continue to support the project and its transition to operations, the statement said.
With immediate effect, NIA said Samra has been appointed as the CEO on an interim basis until the Board of Directors can conclude a formal selection process.
Samra has been serving as the CFO since October 2021 and was closely involved in the airport’s development journey, overseeing financial stewardship, governance, and strategic planning during a key phase of the project, the statement added.
NIA will be operated by Yamuna International Airport Pvt Ltd (YIAPL), a subsidiary of Zurich Airport International AG, under a public-private partnership.
Originally scheduled to commence passenger services in September 2024, NIA is being developed in four phases, along with a dedicated cargo terminal. It received an aerodrome license from the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in March.
YIAPL Chairman Daniel Bircher said that since the inauguration of the airport by the Prime Minister, the goal was to enable the start of operations as early as possible.
"This management change brings the airport into compliance with Bureau of Civil Aviation Security requirements while maintaining continuity in the airport’s leadership team. The newly structured team will support a smooth transition into operations, guided by clear and transparent governance and a strong corporate culture," he said.
On March 28, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said commercial flight operations from the airport would start in the next 45 to 60 days.
Among the largest greenfield airport projects in the country, NIA will initially have a capacity to handle 12 million passengers per annum.
Once fully developed, the airport will have a total passenger handling capacity of 70 million.
The first phase of NIA has been developed at an investment of around Rs 11,200 crore. 'DXN' is the code for the airport.
The airport features a 3,900-metre runway capable of handling wide-body aircraft, along with modern navigation systems, including Instrument Landing System (ILS) and advanced airfield lighting.
The peak handling capacity in the first phase will be 30 flights per hour.
In the first phase, there will be 28 aircraft stands, and the projected cargo capacity is around 2.5 lakh tonnes.
Terminal 1 of the airport is spread across 1,37,985 square metres with 48 check-in counters. Over 40 acres of land have been earmarked for developing MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) facilities at the airport.
