Virat Kohli equals Sunil Gavaskar’s feat with a swashbuckling century against Australia

When Virat Kohli smashed his last international century, blasting a blistering ton against Sri Lanka in the recently concluded ODI series, Harsha Bhogle said, “The glitch in the matrix has been fixed. The conveyor belt has started working perfectly as the centuries are beginning to come out again.” Seeing him bat in the shorter formats, it was just a matter of time before he could put on the runs in the longest format of the game.

In the series against Bangladesh, he couldn’t get the necessary numbers in his favour while a similar extension of his questionable form in the whites graced the Australia series as well, until the 4th Test. In the 4th Test match, after the Australian batters showcased their exemplary striking, India needed a few heroes of their own as well. Finally drawing the curtains on an endless wait of 1205 days, for the first time since November 23, 2019, Virat Kohli smashed a ton in the India whites.

2023 also saw Kohli smashing his first century in three years in both ODIs and T20Is and finally, on day 4 of the final Test at Ahmedabad, Kohli silenced his critics with a thumping ton against a hapless Australian side, who seemed rather blunt with the ball. 

This was also Kohli’s first Test half-century since January 2021, when he got his last 50-plus score in whites against South Africa in Cape Town. With his 186 in Ahmedabad, Kohli notched up the feat of scoring his 28th century in Tests, equalling the Indian legend’s record for scoring the joint-second most tons by an Indian cricketer vs Australia. 

Kohli’s 186 also came in his 50th Test on home soil, with Gavaskar also having scored a century in his 50th Test match in home conditions. While Kohli’s form has headlined the 4th Test, India and Australia shared the spoils after five days of intense Test cricket.