Australia vs India 2018-19: Virat Kohli breaks Sachin Tendulkar's 17-year-old record 

What's the story?

Indian skipper, Virat Kohli brought up his 25th Test match century in the first innings of the ongoing second Test match against Australia at Perth. Thereby, he became the second fastest batsman in the world to reach this milestone, having achieved the feat in 127 innings.

The Background

Team India registered an emphatic 31-run win in the first of the four-match Test match series against the hosts at the Adelaide Oval last week. It was the first-ever instance of an Indian side winning the opening game of a Test series in Australia. The action then shifted to the brand new Optus Stadium in Perth for the second Test.

Winning the toss, Tim Paine's men opted to bat first on a greenish surface and posted 326 runs in the first innings- courtesy half-centuries from Marcus Harris, Aaron Finch and Travis Head. Ishant Sharma was the chief tormentor with the ball, picking up four wickets while Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav and Hanuma Vihari finished with two wickets each. India suffered an early jolt during their first innings losing both the openers, Murali Vijay and KL Rahul with just eight runs on the board.

The heart of the matter

Captain Kohli notches his 25th Test ton. One of the finest from King Kohli 👑😎👌🏻 #TeamIndia #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/LisPQ6pobc

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 16, 2018

After Cheteshwar Pujara's dismissal, skipper Kohli shared a crucial 91-run fourth wicket partnership with Ajinkya Rahane. Kohli, who scored 37 runs (both the innings combined) in the first Test at Adelaide, regained his sublime touch at Perth scoring a magnificent century (123 off 257 balls) on a greenish wicket against the fiery Aussie bowlers. It was Virat Kohli's 25th Test century and he took just 127 innings to achieve this milestone thereby becoming the second fastest batsman to achieve this feat.

The legendary Sir Don Bradman remains the fastest to score 25 Test centuries (in 68 innings) while Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar is at the third on this list (130 innings) followed by Sunil Gavaskar (138 innings) and Matthew Hayden (139 innings). Sachin, who scored his 25th Test century against Australia at Chennai in 2001 held the record for the second fastest batsman to score 25 Test centuries until Virat Kohli broke that feat at Perth.

What's next?

With Virat Kohli back to his usual best, more and more records might tumble in the upcoming games. But the hosts will be in no mood to relent after losing the Adelaide Test. So, expect some fireworks on the pitch!