On This Day in 2014: Virat Kohli scored twin tons on Test captaincy debut

On This Day in 2014: Virat Kohli scored twin tons on Test captaincy debut: On this day a year ago, Virat Kohli was met with distress as he ended as the second best in his first Test as Indian captain. It was a massive test of emotional outlooks for the Australian team, as it was only after a few weeks since the funeral of late Phil Hughes, who died heartbreakingly after the accident on the cricket pitch. Australians fought hard with an extreme desire to win and dedicated the win to late Phil Hughes.

Australia scored a grand total of 517 runs in the first innings, thanks to centuries from David Warner, Steve Smith and Michael Clarke. Among Indian bowlers Mohammed Shami, Varun Aaron and Karn Sharma took 2 wickets each.

The Indian skipper himself led the fight back with a century helped by half-centuries from Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane but were all-out for 444; 73 runs short of the Australian score. Nathan Lyon dismissed 5 Indian batsmen.

Australia declared the second innings after scoring 290 runs, which added to the first innings lead, projected a target of 364 runs to India. Warner scored his second century in as many innings and was assisted by an unbeaten half-century from Steven Smith.

India was in the mix of decisions when Murali Vijay and Shikar Dhawan walked out on the fifth day of an emotional Test match. 364 was a gettable total- Kohli believed so- rejected the idea of going for a draw. But things fell apart when Aussies notched two wickets before Indian scoreboard read sixty.

But since then, a great partnership from Vijay and Kohli helped India reach the 240 mark. But Aussies strangled the Indian batsmen and in just a span of 12 overs, India lost five crucial wickets including that of Vijay and Kohli. Subsequently, the visitors succumbed to a defeat, with 315 runs on the scoreboard. Vijay scored 99 runs and Kohli contributed 141 to Indian total.

Lyon notched 7 wickets in the second innings and had 12 wickets in the match. He was an obvious choice for the Man of the Match. Kohli who made his debut as the Test captain scored twin centuries. It made him only the second captain to score two centuries in both innings of the first Test as skipper, the other being Alan Border.

Also Read – List of Indian players with Twin Centurie in tests

Written by Gautam Sudev