Kohli breaks Test century drought; puts India in command against Australia

Ahmedabad: Virat Kohli finally ended his Test century drought as he slammed an outstanding ton to put India in a commanding position on Day 4 of the ongoing fourth Test match against Australia here at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

At the time of tea break, India’s score read 472/5 with Kohli (135)* and Axar Patel (38)* unbeaten at the crease. The hosts still trail by just 8 runs.

Kohli ended his Test century drought as he slammed his first Test century since November 2019.

After lunch, Indian batsmen Virat Kohli and Srikar Bharat opened their hands and slammed Australian bowlers at regular intervals for boundaries.

Cameron Green was on the receiving end with Srikar Bharat smashing him for 21 runs with the help of two boundaries and two sixes in an over.

Srikar Bharat’s blistering stint at the crease came to an end as he was dismissed by Nathan Lyon for 44. The left-handed batter Axar Patel then came out to bat at the crease.

Kohli ended his Test century drought as he slammed his first Test century since November 2019. The former India captain brought up his much-needed hundred in 241 balls. It was the most-awaited ton as his last century came against Bangladesh in November 2019. With this century, he took his international century tally to 75.

Kohli continued his blistering form and slammed Mitchell Starc for brilliant two boundaries collecting 9 runs. Kohli along with Patel took India’s total beyond the 400-run mark in the 140 overs of the game.

The duo of Kohli and Patel stitched up their 50-run partnership stand –the 6th consecutive 50-run partnership for Team India.

The Indian pair remained unbeaten as the visitors ended the session at 472/5.

Earlier, Kohli and Srikar Bharat showed remarkable skill and determination to frustrate the Australian bowling attack in the opening session of Day 4.

The batting pair of Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli were decisive in their approach and made the Australian bowlers toil hard making merry of the excellent batting conditions on offer.

Australia skipper Steve Smith introduced Cameron Green into the attack in the very first over of day 4 and the bowler concede just 4 runs. Australia started with spin with Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy bowling in tandem from both ends.

The duo of Jadeja and Kohli took India’s total beyond the 300-run mark in the 102nd over of the game. However, the 64-run partnership stand was broken by Murphy who dismissed Jadeja for 28 runs. Srikar Bharat then came out to bat.

The Indian batters rotated the strike brilliantly, not allowing the Australian bowlers to settle down while whacking the loose balls on offer.

Kohli and Srikar Bharat both were aggressors of the batting pair, smashing boundaries regularly. The duo stitched a solid 50-run partnership for Team India.

The Indian pair took India’s score beyond the 350-run mark as the first session ended.

Brief Score: Australia 480 (Usman Khawaja 180, Cameron Green 114; Ravichandran Ashwin 6-91) vs India 362/4 (Virat Kohli 135*, Shubman Gill 128; Todd Murphy 2-64). (ANI)