8 instances where India scored 600 runs in an innings under Virat Kohli's captaincy in Tests

The Indian Test team has been on a roll ever since Virat Kohli took over its reins. The Indian batsmen have always piled up a huge amount of runs in the home seasons. In the last 3 home seasons, India has amassed at least one 600+ score in a Test series. They even crossed the 700 run-mark against England at Chennai. 8 times in total has the Indian team been able to score 600 or more runs in an innings under his leadership..

Recently, in the Rajkot Test against Windies, the Indian batsmen destroyed the opposition bowlers in the first innings to put up 649 on the board. The other teams against whom India scored 600 include Sri Lanka (3), Bangladesh (1), Australia (1) & England (2).

Here’s a summary of all those 8 instances.

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#8 649/9d, India vs Windies, Rajkot, 2018

Debutante Prithvi Shaw outclassed the WI bowling attack

With skipper Jason Holder ruled out due to an ankle injury, the Windies bowling attack surrendered to Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja. Teenager Prithvi Shaw brought up his maiden Test century in his first ever international match. Not only did he score his 134 at a quick rate but he also stitched a wonderful partnership with Pujara (86) for the 2nd wicket after India lost KL Rahul early.

After Shaw and Pujara’s departure, it was Virat Kohli’s turn to score a century (139) as along with Ajinkya Rahane (41); he took the team total past 300. Roston Chase dismissed Rahane which allowed explosive Rishabh Pant to unleash himself. The 20-year-old Delhiite smashed the inexperienced bowlers for a quick-fire 92 off just 84 balls.

Local boy Ravindra Jadeja too brought up his first ever Test century as India declared the innings at 649/9 after batting for almost 150 overs.

#7 759/7d, India vs England, Chennai, 2016

Karun Nair

After the visiting English side put up a huge 477 in the first innings, very few thought India could still end up having a lead of over 250 runs. However, KL Rahul’s 199 supported by Parthiv Patel’s 71 laid the perfect platform for the middle order to pile up a mammoth total on the scoreboard. Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara lost their wickets cheaply but Karnataka-born Karun Nair thrashed the Englishmen. Nair became only second Indian after Virender Sehwag to score a triple century (303*) in an international Test match.

Half-centuries from R Ashwin (67) and Ravindra Jadeja (51) made sure India crossed the 750 for only the first time in their cricket history.

#6 687/6d, India vs Bangladesh, Hyderabad

Virat Kohli

Skipper Virat Kohli elected to bat first after winning the toss in the one-off Test against Bangladesh. After losing KL Rahul in the first over of the innings, Murali Vijay (108) and Cheteshwar Pujara (83) stabilised the innings with a 177-run partnership for the 2nd wicket. Virat Kohli made the opposition bowlers toil hard as he scored his first ever double century (204) against Bangladesh. Ajinkya Rahane (82) and Ravindra Jadeja (60*) ably supported Wriddhiman Saha (106*) as Kohli declared the Indian innings at 687/6 after batting for 166 overs.

India comprehensively trounced the visitors by 208 runs to win the one-off Test match.

#5 600, India vs Sri Lanka, Galle

Shikhar Dhawan

India toured Sri Lanka for a 3 match Test series in 2017. In the first Test, Virat Kohli batted first after the coin tossed in his favour. Left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan punished the inexperienced Sri Lankan pacers as he scored 190 off just 168 balls with support from Cheteshwar Pujara (153). Even Ajinkya Rahane (57) and Hardik Pandya (50) chipped in with half-centuries. India’s tail performed tremendously well with the bat as the last 3 wickets added 105 to the team total. Mohammed Shami made a quick-fire 30 comprising 3 sixes as India ended their innings at exactly 600.

India won the first match of the series by 304 runs as Shikhar Dhawan was rightly adjudged the Man of the Match.

#4 603/9d, India vs Australia, Ranchi

Cheteshwar Pujara

Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell’s centuries helped the Australians reach 451 in their first innings. Murali Vijay (82) and KL Rahul (67) provided India a solid start. Cheteshwar Pujara, who came out to bat at no.3, proved his mettle with a magnificent double ton (202) after spending over 11 hours on the pitch playing 525 balls. The middle order didn’t contribute much but Saha’s century (117) and Ravindra Jadeja’s unbeaten half-century (54*) in the lower order ensured India took a considerable lead in the Test match.

The Test match ended in a draw as two of the best teams in the world produced an excellent quality of cricket.

#3 610/6d, India vs Sri Lanka, Nagpur

Rohit Sharma

Trailing by 205 runs after the visitors elected to bat first, India’s innings had not one, not two, not three but 4 centurions, including 1 double centurion (Virat Kohli), as they took a mammoth 405 runs lead over the Lankans. An interesting fact about this innings was that none of the batsmen had a double-digit score. 4 batsmen (Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara) had a 3 digit score while the remaining batsmen (KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha, Ajinkya Rahane and R Ashwin) had single digit scores.

India went on to win this match by a huge margin of an innings and 239 runs.

#2 622/9d, India vs Sri Lanka, Colombo

Ajinkya Rahane

Another appearance by Sri Lanka on this list shows how low the team has fallen in the past 3 years. Stable starts by Shikhar Dhawan (35) and KL Rahul (57) set the stage for middle-order batsmen Ajinkya Rahane (132) and Cheteshwar Pujara (133) to take the Indian team total past 400. Half-centuries from Ravichandran Ashwin (54), Wriddhiman Saha (67) and Ravindra Jadeja (70*) plummeted the scoreboard to 622/9 before Virat Kohli declared the innings.

India thrashed Sri Lanka by an innings and 53 runs to win the second Test of the series.

#1 631, India vs England, Mumbai

Jayant Yadav

Alastair Cook elected to bat first in the 4th Test match of the 5-match series against India. England put on 400 on the board thanks to Keaton Jennings’ 112. Murali Vijay’s 136 and Virat Kohli’s 235 took India to a stage where a 50-60 first innings lead seemed possible. However, spin bowling all-rounder Jayant Yadav scored his first ever international century (104) to take India’s total past 600 as India amassed a lead of 231 runs in the first innings.

A clinical performance by the Indian bowlers ensured that the home side won the match by an innings and 36 runs.

Which of these batting performances is your favorite? Share your answers in the comments section below.