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After securing a fantastic 3-1 victory over England in early 2021, Virat Kohli's men are now all set to take on New Zealand in the World Test Championship (WTC) grand finale.
The WTC final schedule states the final between India and New Zealand is scheduled to be held in Southampton between June 18-22. Earlier today, the BCCI announced the 24-member India team for WTC finals that would take part in the much-awaited finale. Virat Kohli is set to lead team India, and Ajinkya Rahane has been appointed his deputy for the game.
Recently, Virat Kohli has been out of touch in the longest form of the game. Even though he hasn't done much wrong, captain Kohli has not managed to score big in international cricket in the recent past. Surprising as it may be, the run-machine scored his last century in Indian colors in November 2019.
However, Virat Kohli has played some brilliant innings against New Zealand in the past. The Indian captain holds a fantastic double century as one of his most memorable knocks against the Kiwis and has scored a total of 773 runs in 17 innings against them.
It will be interesting to see if Virat Kohli can make the most of the opportunity at the WTC finale to finally get some big runs on the scoreboard against NZ squad for WTC final.
Having said that, we take a look at 3 of the best knocks that Virat Kohli has played against New Zealand in Tests as we build up to the final of the World Test Championship.
#3 51 off 82 balls to help India chase down a stiff target (Bengaluru, 2012)
India's master chaser, Virat Kohli, pulled off a thrilling run-chase in the 2nd Test of New Zealand's tour of India in 2012. New Zealand fought hard throughout the game to come out on top against India's top order, and they were rewarded with three early wickets.
Kohli walked out to bat with India struggling at 152 for 3, after Sachin Tendulkar was clean bowled by a stunner off Tim Southee. Kohli stayed put in the middle and, with MS Dhoni's support at the crease, managed to help team India chase down a stiff target of 261 on Day 4 of the Test.
Virat Kohli ended the 2nd innings with 51 crucial runs against his name. Notably, Kohli had also scored a splendid century in the first innings and was awarded the Man of the Match award for his brilliance with the willow.
The day became even more memorable for Kohli after he became only the 6th Indian batsman to score a hundred and a fifty in the same match against New Zealand.
#2 105* to save the Test (Wellington, 2014)
Even though this knock didn't come as a winning cause, the current Indian captain would certainly look back at it with utmost satisfaction. Batting last, team India had a tall total of 435 runs to chase in just 67 remaining overs to win the Test.
Click here to get WTC final live score.
Team India were struggling after losing their 3rd wicket in just the 13th over. The game seemed to be going New Zealand's way until Virat Kohli walked out to bat. He stitched a match-saving partnership with Rohit Sharma to ensure that India batted right through to the end to save the Test match. Kohli scored a fantastic century and remained 105 not out at the end of the innings.
#1 211 to hand New Zealand a huge defeat (Indore, 2016)
Batting first in the 3rd Test against New Zealand, Team India started feebly as they lost their top 3 batsmen for low scores. It was then that the partnership between Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane turned the match on its head to favor the hosts.
The duo stitched a humongous partnership for the 5th wicket. Kohli scored a massive 211 from 366 deliveries, while Rahane fell just short of his double ton after scoring a brilliant 188.
With his blistering double century, Virat Kohli became the first captain of the Indian cricket team to score two double-tons in Tests.
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