Kohli surpasses brilliance in England

Kohli did what he has been doing again and again in international cricket for the past 5-6 years. He surpassed brilliance by scoring 149 against England, thus shutting the mouth of all the critics who have doubted his batting ability in English conditions since his last forgettable England tour of 2014.

Chasing England’s first inning total of 287, India lost 3 early wickets and at one time, they were reeling at 59/3. Kohli led from the front and started building his innings slowly. He was dropped in the slip cordon by Dawid Malan while batting on 21. This did not deter him as he built a partnership with Rahane and took the score to 100/4. He batted with dogged perseverance as he scored more than fifty percent of his team's runs.

It was an overcast condition at Birmingham. Anderson, Broad, and Curran swung the ball on either side of the wicket, but Kohli marched valiantly to 149 by scoring 22 boundaries and one maximum. No other Indian batsmen could score more than 30 runs as they found themselves having difficulty playing in English conditions. Kohli showed his leadership ability and perfect technique to score a century which the world will remember for a long time. He played mostly on off-side, but some of his leg glances were awesome to watch.

The joy on his face, when he reached his century was so evident, that he kissed his wedding ring dedicating it to his wife, Anushka Sharma. This could not have been possible without the support of Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav. They scored 5 and 1* respectively but played a huge part in building a partnership with Kohli.

This brilliant century took India to a respectable score of 274, which is only 13 runs short of England’s first inning total. He looked unfazed by the swing and that is a good sign for India as they progress further in the test and the series.

A very important knock by @ImVkohli. Lovely way to set up the Test series. Congrats on your Test hundred. #ENGvIND

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) August 2, 2018

That’s an incredible knock @imVkohli !!! 1 man battle against the moving ball ..... #ENGvIND

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) August 2, 2018