Virat Kohli creates captaincy record in England with 23rd Test century
Nottingham, August 20: India captain Virat Kohli notched up his 23rd Test century on the third day of the third Test against England at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. Leading from the front, Kohli brought up his half-century off 74 deliveries and then reached the three-figures in 189 balls. His innings was laced with 9 boundaries.
However, Kohli did survive a scare in the nervous nineties when Keaton Jennings dropped him on 93. Making full use of the opportunity the right-hander went on to score his second hundred in the ongoing Test series.
Kohli’s knock at Nottingham was a hard-fought, well crafted. Showing tremendous application in the middle Kohli played a fine knock to put India in command. Last time when Kohli toured England in 2014, he scored a total of 134 runs in the five-match Test series at an average of 13.40. There were two occasions when Kohli departed on a duck. But with this innings, it will be fair to say that the ghosts of 2014 have been buried at last.
En route to his hundred, Virat Kohli went past Mohammad Azharuddin’s tally of 426 runs to become the Indian captain with most runs in a series in England.
This is the second Test in the series where Kohli has scored 50+ in both the innings. In his stellar career, Kohli has achieved this record for the fifth time as a captain surpassing MS Dhoni (4 times) and MAK Pataudi (3).
Kohli has also reached 50 for the fourth time in this series. Only one India batsman has done it more often in a Test series in England (Gavaskar’s 5 in 1979).
In terms of most runs scored by an Indian Test captain away from home, Kohli tops the charts with 1827 runs. Sourav Ganguly is second with 1693 runs. MS Dhoni follows him with 1591 runs. Interestingly, Kohli’s runs have come in 30 innings at an average of more than 60. Sourav Ganguly had scored 1693 in 43 innings (avg 43.41).
Incidentally, Kohli has also crossed 700 runs in the ongoing England tour. He has scored 871 runs in his last tour against South Africa.
Courtesy: indianexpress.com
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BCCI informs franchises to assemble players for IPL 2025 restart by May 13: Report
Mumbai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has reportedly asked all Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises, except Punjab Kings, to report to their respective venues by Tuesday, May 13.
The BCCI has verbally informed franchises that a revised schedule is being prepared, with the aim of restarting the league immediately following the ceasefire announcement between India and Pakistan, as reported by The Indian Express on Sunday.
Teams have further been advised to communicate travel plans to their overseas players at the earliest.
There are 12 matches still left, and the BCCI is reportedly looking to incorporate more double-headers to ensure the tournament concludes on its originally scheduled date of May 25.
“All franchises have been told to inform its team to report to their respective destination by Tuesday. Punjab will have a neutral venue, so their destination is yet to be confirmed. The board is planning to have more double headers so that they can finish the IPL as per its scheduled day,” TIE quoted its source in the Indian board as saying.
Following the suspension of the league last Friday due to escalating border tensions, the BCCI had reportedly shortlisted Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad as possible venues for the remaining fixtures. However, final decisions will be taken after thorough consultations with the government.
