India vs New Zealand, 3rd Test Day 1 Stats: Virat Kohli’s incredible conversion rate in Tests

Virat Kohli’s century and an unbeaten 79 from Ajinkya Rahane helped India reach a commanding position at the end of day one of the third Test against New Zealand at Indore. After winning the toss and electing to bat, India ended on 267/3 with Kohli and Rahane still at the crease.

Earlier in the day, Murali Vijay opened the innings along with recalled Gautam Gambhir. While a brilliant reflex catch by Tom Latham got rid of Vijay, Gambhir was looking in good touch before he was out lbw to Trent Boult.

Cheteshwar Pujara, who is the leading run-scorer in the Test series, and Virat Kohli saw India thorugh till lunch. However, soon after, Pujara was dismissed nine short of a well-deserved half century. But from then onwards it was the Kohli-Rahane show.

Although Rahane struggled with the short ball throughout his innings, he stayed resolute and ensured India didn’t lose a wicket in the final session and complemented Kohli perfectly to take India to a position of strength at the end of the first day’s play.

Here are some interesting numbers from the day’s play:

1 – Virat Kohli’s century was the first century of this series. The previous best was 87 by Cheteshwar Pujara.

2 – Only two batsmen, Don Bradman (69.04%) and George Headley (66.67%) have a better conversion rate (50 to 100) in Tests among all players who have scored at least 10 Test tons. Kohli has a conversion rate of 52 having converted 13 of his 25 fifties into centuries.

3 – Gautam Gambhir became only the third batsman after Michael Vaughan and Chris Gayle to score two sixes inside the first 5 overs of a Test since 2002.

6 – This was Virat Kohli’s sixth Test century as captain in his 26^th innings. Only Sunil Gavaskar (11), Mohammad Azharuddin (9) and Sachin Tendulkar (7) have more centuries as India’s Test captain. Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni both had five each as captain.

7 – The number of consecutive tosses won by Virat Kohli in Tests in India. He has won all seven of his Test tosses in India and this is the eighth consecutive toss win for India at home.

13 – This was Virat Kohli’s 13^th Test century and his fourth in India and third against New Zealand.

18 – This was Virat Kohli’s first Test century in India in 18 innings. His previous Test ton came against Australia at Chennai in February 2013.

22 – Indore’s Holkar Stadium became the 22^nd venue to host a Test match in India. The last new venue to host a Test in India was Uppal, Hyderabad in 2010.

49 – Ajinkya Rahane crossed 2,000 Test runs in his 49^th innings. He became the 36^th Indian to cross that mark in Tests.

2002 – This was the first time since 2002 that New Zealand have introduced spin in the first 5 overs of a Test match.

2003 – The last time an Indian captain scored a Test century against New Zealand was Sourav Ganguly in 2003. Kohli became the first captain since then to score a hundred against New Zealand.

2010 – The last Indian No.4 before Virat Kohli to score a Test century at home was Sachin Tendulkar, who scored a double century against Australia at Bangalore in 2010.