The long wait for Virat Kohli ended on Friday. After five long years, the former India captain notched up his first Test century away from home as he scored 121 runs in the second Test match against West Indies at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad. The knock did not just revive India on Day 1 of the match after a mini collapse, but also saw the visitors amass a mighty 438 in the first innings.
It was Kohli’s 29th Test century, which put him third behind Steve Smith (32) and Joe Root (30) among active players, and 76th across format, which consolidates his spot at number 2 in all-time list where he only remains behind Sachin Tendulkar.
With the 29th Test ton, Kohli bizarrely created a deja vu moment, giving reminder to a certain Sachin century. Jio Cinemas, the official broadcaster for the India-West Indies series later tweeted a video which showed that 14 year back, in 2009, at the very same venue in Trinidad, Sachin had notched up his 29th Test century, also through a shot on the off side. The only difference was that Kohli managed to get to the mark with a boundary.
It wasn’t just one legend. Kohli also, in an unusual way, matched former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar. In 1983, when India and West Indies were playing their 50th Test match in the rivalry, Gavaskar had scored his 29th Test century before being dismissed for 121, exactly like Kohli, who did it in the 100th match of the rivalry.
“These are things for others to talk. I have got 15 hundreds away from home, that’s not a bad record. I have got more hundreds away than at home. The key is to do well to the best of my ability. We haven’t played 30 matches away from home and I have got a few fifty-plus scores. I want to contribute as much as possible. If I get 50 the feeling is I missed out on a 100, if I get 120 the feeling is I missed out on a double hundred. These stats and milestones mean nothing in 15 years’ time, what they will remember is if I left an impact or not,” Kohli said at the end of Day 2 proceedings when asked about ending his long wait for an overseas century.
Kohli remained the only centurion for India in the first innings, which combined with four half-century knocks, two of which came on Day 2 of the match – Ravindra Jadeja’s 61 off 152 and R Ashwin’s 56 off 78 – as India amassed 438 runs. The visitors eventually closed Day 2 after reducing West Indies to one down for 86 runs, still leading by 352 runs.
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