On This Day: Virat Kohli Became The First And Only Captain To Score An Overseas 200
Virat Kohli after the Double Hundred in West Indies [X]
On the 22nd of July 2016, Virat Kohli etched his name in the history books. In the first Test of the West Indies tour, the India great scored his maiden double ton. But this was no ordinary effort as it not only made him the first and the only Indian captain but also earned him the praise of the great Sri Vivan Richards.
Kohli gets to bat on the first day
Virat Kohli got a chance to bat on the first day of the match as India lost their first two wickets for 74 runs. Kohli came into the crease at this stage and was seen going about the business in his own trademark way. He kept rotating the strike and got the occasional boundaries to keep the scoreboard moving. At the end of day 1, Kohli was stationed at 143, with India having 302/4 on the board.
The Indian skipper carried the momentum into Day 2 and reached his double hundred before lunch. However, immediately after achieving the milestone, Shannon Gabriel dismissed Kohli. Courtesy of the outstanding knock by Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin's 113, India posted a mammoth total of 566 runs on the board before declaring.
India won the match by an innings
The total India had in the first innings proved too much for the hosts to cover in both of their innings. Virat Kohli and his boys won this game by an innings and 92 runs.
Although Ravi Ashwin was given the player of the match for his all-round efforts, Kohli's double hundred will be remembered for the authority with which he played the knock and the record he achieved as an Indian skipper.
Notably with this double Hundred, he joined an elite list of India Test captains to have scored double Hundred. The four other batters to have achieved this feat are - MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. However, while the others have only to their name, Virat Kohli went onto score seven double Hundreds and that seperates him from the others.