Virat Kohli Centuries: Top 5 tons hit by the Indian Captain Overseas

Virat Kohli, undoubtedly, is one of the greatest batsmen to have graced the golden pages of cricket history. We have seen him scripting some of the most spectacular knocks since he made his debut in the national colours in 2008.

He went from strength to strength as his career progressed. Nine years down the line he is leading India in all three formats of the game with utmost passion and desire to win everything. When he made his debut, it could be seen that this flamboyant, confident and aggressive character was not one to be bogged down by anybody or anything.

And that is visible now as even the pressure of captaincy and off-field criticisms haven’t had any effect on his game. He is a real run machine as he deals in centuries most of the times. He has treated us with mesmerizing centuries on numerous occasions.

When most Indian batsmen fail to perform overseas, he raised the bar there also hitting ton after ton. Let us now have a look at five of those occasions when he treated the fans with scintillating centuries in overseas conditions.

#5) 119 vs. South Africa | 1st Test at Johannesburg, December 2013

The general notion is that Indian batsmen are not that good when it comes to batting in overseas conditions, especially in places like South Africa and England. It becomes tougher for Indian batsmen who are pretty new to the team and lack that experience of playing in those conditions.

However, lack of experience in South African conditions mattered the least to Virat Kohli as he made his way to a century in the very first Test as Johannesburg.

India were in deep trouble having lost both their openers, Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay, for 24 runs after batting first. However, Virat Kohli partnered with Cheteshwar Pujara to get the Indian innings back on track.

He stitched a 89-run stand with Pujara and then a 68-run stand with Ajinkya Rahane to recover the innings. He was standing like a wall at one end but was falling short of partners at the other.

He mixed caution with aggression beautifully and kept hitting boundaries at regular intervals to keep the scoreboard ticking. Finally he was dismissed for 119 (281) with India's score reading 219/5.

India collapsed soon for a total of 280 runs and Rahane was the second highest scorer after Kohli with 47 runs to his name. That gives an idea of how well Kohli batted as compared to other batsmen.

The match was drawn in the end as South Africa managed to save the match by a narrow margin. Kohli had even scored 96 in the second innings.

#4) 141 vs. Australia, 1st Test-Border Gavaskar Trophy at Adelaide, December 2014

Australia v India - 4th Test: Day 3

It was Virat Kohli's 1st Test as a captain. MS Dhoni was injured and Kohli had been handed over the captaincy duties. He had already scored a classy 115 in the first innings to propel India to a score of 444 in reply to Australia's first innings total of 517/7d.

The Australians declared their second innings on 290/5 giving India a target of 364 runs to chase. Murali Vijay and Virat Kohli had led India to a comfortable position as they were on 242/2 after 69 overs despite losing their first two wickets for 57 runs.

With about 21 overs left in the match and 122 runs to win, a draw looked like the most possible outcome. However, Vijay departed for 99 and things changed. One wicket started falling after another. Meanwhile, Kohli decided to push for a win and went into the aggressive mode. However, no one after Vijay was able to provide him the support at the other end.

Kohli had given the Australians the scare of their life as he was on a rampage. India were 70 runs away from the victory with 9 overs to play and Kohli was finally dismissed. A scintillating knock of 141 (175) consisting of 16 fours and one six had finally come to an end.

India soon collapsed for 315 runs and Australia won by 48 runs. Despite that loss, Kohli's innings will be remembered as the best by an Indian batsman in Australia.

#3) 169 vs. Australia at Melbourne, 3rd Test Border Gavaskar Trophy, December 2014

It was the third Test of the 4-match series and India were already 2-0 down to the men from Down Under. Australia had raised another mammoth total of 530 batting first. India were again left with the task of playing the catch up game. And they did so in style with Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane leading the way. From 147/3 the duo took India's score to 409 runs.

Kohli was magnificent in particular giving the Aussie bowlers a torrid time once again. He smashed them to all parts of the ground and left them thinking. Rahane did the same thing at the other end as well. However, it was Kohli's intimidating character and aggressive attitude that made the difference.

The partnership came to an end with Rahane's dismissal for 141. However, Kohli carried on with wickets tumbling at the other end again. He lost his wicket on 169 runs, with India's score reading 462/8. India collapsed soon for 465 runs. The match was ultimately drawn, with Kohli scoring 54 in the second innings too.

#2) 133* vs. Sri Lanka at Hobart, Commonwealth Bank Series, February 2012

This was the first time that Virat Kohli was given the epithet of 'Chase master'. Sri Lanka had made their way to a massive 320/4 riding on centuries from Tilakeratne Dillman (160) and Kumar Sangakkara (105). India were left with a daunting task on a Hobart pitch.

However, the top order responded aggressively and India were on 86/2 around the 10th over. Then arrived Virat Kohli at the crease. He and Gautam Gambhir combined together to take India's score to 201 in the 27th over. The partnership came to an end with Gambhir's (63) run out. However, Kohli went on a rampage afterwards along with Suresh Raina.

They took Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulashekara and Thisara Perera to the cleaners. They scored the remaining 119 runs in a space of 9 overs and Kohli had contributed the majority of that with Raina scoring 40* (24).

Kohli remained unbeaten on 133 off 86 deliveries with 16 fours and two sixes to his name. India won the match by 7 wickets and 80 deliveries to spare.

#1) 183 vs. Pakistan at Dhaka, Asia Cup, 5th match - March 2012

This was the day Viral Kohli notched up his highest ODI score ever, and that too against arch rivals Pakistan. Pakistan had made their way to 329/6 riding on centuries from Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed.

They would have thought that it would be enough to restrict India. Little did they know India were going see the best of Virat Kohli on that day. He smashed every Pakistani bowler all around the park, especially Wahab Riaz, who conceded 50 in his 4 overs.

Kohli departed, but en route leading India to the doors of victory. They were just 12 runs short of the total when he departed for a scintillating knock of 183 (148). India won the match by 6 wickets and 13 deliveries to spare.