IND vs AUS: By scoring his first half-century in red-ball cricket in 16 innings, Virat Kohli finally ended his run drought in Test cricket. This was the longest time he had not scored a fifty in a Test in his entire career.
Kohli owned the later part of day 3 of the fourth and final Test between India and Australia in Ahmedabad. He also became the fifth Indian to score 4000 Test runs at home, joining Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar, and Virender Sehwag on the distinguished list.
Kohli is the third fastest Indian player to reach 4,000 Test runs. It was Kohli’s 77th innings in India. He pushed past the legendary Sunil Gavaskar (87) and the current head coach of India, Rahul Dravid (88). Kohli needed 42 runs to reach the milestone, which he did on Saturday with a boundary off Australian bowler Nathan Lyon in the final session.
A couple of moments later, Kohli got his well-played half-century. After nearly 14 months, this was his first fifty in a Test. He had not scored more than half a ton since January 2022, when he played South Africa.
With an average of 58.82, Virat Kohli has now scored more than 4000 Test runs in India. Among batters who have scored more than 4000 Test runs in India, this is the best.
Virender Sehwag is the fastest player to complete 71 innings and 4000 Tests in India. Tendulkar has 78 innings at No. 2. However, with 7216 runs in 153 innings, the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar leads the Test run-scorers in India. Dravid (5598), Gavaskar (5067), and Sehwag (4656) come in behind him.
IND vs AUS: Kohli Scores an important Fifty after a drought that lasted 14 months
After India lost Cheteshwar Pujara just before tea on Day 2, Kohli came to the crease. India was in a good position, but they were still a long way behind the 480 runs scored by Australia in the first innings. India needed Kohli to rise to the occasion like he used to and make a significant contribution alongside Shubman Gill, who had just scored a well-deserved century.
The previous skipper had a couple of nervous minutes before the Coffee break against Nathan Lyon. He was beaten once and had an outside edge, which Steve Smith thankfully did not take at first slip. But in the last session of the day, Ahmedabad saw a different Kohli. Kohli exuded assurance and confidence which India is in need of to grab a victory.
He made good use of the series’ best pitch and began slowly to move the scoreboard. He and Gill shared a 58-run partnership before Gill was dismissed by Nathan Lyon for a well-made 128 runs.
After that, All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja joined hands with Kohli, and the two of them made sure that there wasn’t any more damage done to the Indian hopes. Jadeja was batting on 16 and Kohli was unbeaten on 59 when stumps were called on Day 2.
Currently, the match stands with India at 289/3 and 191 runs behind Australia. With 2 days left on the last test match, India has to accelerate if they need a win. Which is a necessity if they want to qualify for the World Test Championship 2023 Final.
