Every time he gets to the thirties, you sense it deep within that Virat Kohli is going to score yet another Test century, and haven’t we seen this scenario repeat itself, several times, in Australia? Thursday being the latest instance.
Against the same opposition, he produced the same result and scored his fourth Test century of the series from seven Test innings. Incidentally, this was his 10th overall Test century and he has 10 half-centuries as well so far in his career.
Incredible statistics to show the world how he loves getting to three figure scores. If you take this lad out of the team, India will be left with a few warriors, but none as gritty as the new Indian captain!
KL Rahul, the newbie, who showed a lot of promise in the last session of Day Two, did what he has been doing so far in his career. The Karnataka opener was simply ecstatic and looked like another Rahul Dravid — at least after scoring his maiden century, the way he opened his helmet and punched the air with his bat.
It was a great sight to see a young batsman resting his head on his captain’s shoulder and expressing his gratitude for giving him a chance to prove his worth in the team after Rahul had a forgettable Test debut.
Even MS Dhoni would have done the same by offering another chance to Rahul. This is the former captain who kept telling the world that the Indian team is under a process and the result will show very soon. Kohli would have a similar point of view after the Sydney Test.
But what is important is that India are slowly graduating to the next level and as was predicted by team director Ravi Shastri, this team will be as lethal as a bullet by year end.
Now a side that’s already got there is the one Kohli is waging a batting battle against. If the Australians are boasting about their new captain Steven Smith, and his four Test centuries from four matches, India are also celebrating the birth of Kohli as the guy who leads from the front — both teams are jubilant about similar developments.
If Smith is here to stay as the Australian captain, Virat too shows signs of longevity. He has just been given the mantle of Test captaincy and from the word go has shown great promise as a leader capable of taking his pack to the next level. And his is quickly become the choice statement of this Indian team — an unbridled expression of the self through the game, with no apologies!
