Virat Kohli might have missed out at Visakhapatnam but at Pune, where India struggled to put together a century in either innings against Australia two years back, the Indian cricket team captain slammed a seventh Test double ton to grind South Africa down on Day two of the second Test of the ongoing series.
Here are few stats and facts from his record-breaking innings:
Seventh Double ton
Kohli slammed his seventh double century in Test cricket, making him the Indian with most double hundreds in the format. Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, two other batsmen who had a fetish for daddy hundreds, have six apiece. He is also the joint fourth highest in the world after Don Bradman, Kumar Sangakkara and Brian Lara. While Bradman has 12, Sangakkara has 11 and Lara 9. Wally Hammond and Mahela Jayawardene have seven each like Kohli.
Fourth quickest to 7000 runs
Virat Kohli took 138 innings to reach the landmark of 7000 Test runs making him the joint fourth fastest in the world and third fastest Indian to the landmark. Wally Hammond, who did it in 131 innings, is the quickest while Virender Sehwag (134 innings) and Sachin Tendulkar (136 innings) also did it quicker than Kohli. He equalled Kumar Sangakkara and Garry Sobers' record by reaching 7000 runs in 138 innings.
Highest score
This is Virat Kohli's highest Test score. He had earlier made 243 against Sri Lanka in Delhi in 2017-18 in a drawn Test match. That was his highest Test score until he made 254* at Pune against South Africa on Day two of the second Test. His other double hundreds are 235 (vs England), 213 (vs Sri Lanka), 211 (vs New Zealand), 204 (vs Bangladesh) and 200 (vs West Indies). Only one of those - against West Indies - has come outside India.
Read: 68 international centuries, 11 years, 1 Virat Kohli
Highest among Indian captains
Kohli's 254* is the highest score by an Indian Test captain. He surpassed his own record set in Delhi when he made 243. It's also the highest by an Indian captain against South Africa with the previous best being Sachin Tendulkar's 169 in 1996-97. There has only ever been one higher score by an Indian against South Africa in Tests - Virender Sehwag's 319 in 304 balls at Chennai.
Double tons against nations
Kohli has double centuries against six Test nations now. Only Kumar Sangakkara and Younis Khan have double tons against six nations. Interestingly, Kohli has double centuries against all nations he has played Tests against except Australia.
A first 250 plus score
While the 254* is Kohli's highest score, he also joined a select group of Indian players who have 250-plus scores. Virender Sehwag, Karun Nair, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid are the other Indians to have made 250-plus scores in Tests.
Read: The rare blips in Virat Kohli’s impressive Test career
Featured image courtesy: AFP / Punit Paranjpe
