Stats: Highest lead from where India didn’t enforce a follow-on
Former Indian captain Rahul Dravid didn’t enforce the follow-on in 2007 Oval Test after the team managed a 319-run first inning lead over hosts England.
India took a huge first innings lead of 309 runs after bowling out the hosts for 291 runs, a couple of overs after the lunch break on the 3rd day. Despite bagging a huge lead, the Indian skipper Virat Kohli decided to bat again with the match just half way through. The 309-run lead with which India didn’t enforce the follow-on was the 2nd highest for India and the only 2nd instance of them not enforcing the follow-on in Tests after bagging a 300+ lead.
Former Indian captain Rahul Dravid didn’t enforce the follow-on in 2007 Oval Test after the team managed a 319-run first inning lead over hosts England. Overall, this was the 5th time India didn’t enforce a follow-on after taking 250+ runs first innings lead and three are under Kohli’s captaincy. Earlier this year, India batted again after taking a 299-run lead against Bangladesh at Hyderabad.
Highest lead from where India didn’t enforce a follow-on:
| Lead | Captain | Opposition | Result | Score | Overs | Ground | Start Date |
| 319 | Rahul Dravid | England | draw | 345 | 103.1 | The Oval | 9-Aug-2007 |
| 309 | Virat Kohli | Sri Lanka | – | 291 | 78.3 | Galle | 26-Jul-2017 |
| 299 | Virat Kohli | Bangladesh | won | 388 | 127.5 | Hyderabad (Deccan) | 9-Feb-2017 |
| 275 | Sachin Tendulkar | New Zealand | draw | 308 | 141.4 | Ahmedabad | 29-Oct-1999 |
| 258 | Virat Kohli | New Zealand | won | 299 | 90.2 | Indore | 8-Oct-2016 |
| 231 | Sourav Ganguly | Australia | draw | 474 | 117.5 | Sydney | 2-Jan-2004 |
Under Kohli’s captaincy, India had a chance to enforce the follow-on on 6 different instances before this game out of which India batted against on 4 occasions and won all the 4 matches. In the two matches where Kohli decided to enforce the follow-on, India won once (in West Indies, 2016) while the other game (in Bangladesh, 2015) ended in a draw which was affected by rain.
India taking 200+ first-innings leads after batting first under Virat Kohli’s captaincy:
| Lead | Follow-on | Opposition | Result | Score | Overs | Ground | Start Date |
| 206 | Enforced | Bangladesh | draw | 256 | 65.5 | Fatullah | 10-Jun-2015 |
| 213 | Not enforced | South Africa | won | 121 | 49.3 | Delhi | 3-Dec-2015 |
| 323 | Enforced | West Indies | won | 243 | 90.2 | North Sound | 21-Jul-2016 |
| 258 | Not enforced | New Zealand | won | 299 | 90.2 | Indore | 8-Oct-2016 |
| 200 | Not enforced | England | won | 255 | 102.5 | Visakhapatnam | 17-Nov-2016 |
| 299 | Not enforced | Bangladesh | won | 388 | 127.5 | Hyderabad (Deccan) | 9-Feb-2017 |
| 309 | Not enforced | Sri Lanka | – | 291 | 78.3 | Galle | 26-Jul-2017 |
(Stats as on July 28, 2017)
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