• Home
  • Player Stories
  • Rewinding To 2016 Virat Kohlis Majestic 167 That Floored England On This Day

Rewinding to 2016: Virat Kohli's majestic 167 that floored England on this day

Aakash Saini

Virat Kohli celebrating his 167 vs England [Source: @ImTanujSingh/x]Virat Kohli celebrating his 167 vs England [Source: @ImTanujSingh/x]

Virat Kohli has long been the heartbeat of India’s batting, delivering innings that continues to stay with Indian cricket fans. While the legendary Indian batter called time on his glittering Test career earlier this year to focus on ODIs, the cricketer has crafted some of India’s finest modern-day innings in red-ball cricket, especially during a phase where his calibre in the longest format was unmatched.

One of the many classics he produced during his golden stretch was the 167 he punched out against England on the opening day of India’s second home Test of the five-match series between the two nations back in late-2016.

OTD: Throwback to Virat Kohli’s 167 vs England

After procuring a fighting draw in the series-opener at Rajkot, a Virat Kohli-led Team India crossed paths with England in the second Test of the five-match series, doing so at the VDCA Stadium in Vizag between November 17 and November 21.

Kohli, batting at number four, made his way to the crease at 22-2 within the first 20 minutes of play on the first morning. With both openers gone, the then Indian captain led his side from the front, crafting a colossal 226-run partnership with number three Cheteshwar Pujara for the third wicket to take India past 200 without further casualty.

While Pujara fell for 119 from 204 balls, Virat Kohli batted out the day to steer India to 317-4 by stumps, with the legendary right-hander himself reaching 151*. The modern-day batting behemoth was eventually dismissed by Moeen Ali the following morning for 167 from 267 balls with 18 regal boundaries, as India folded up for 455 in 129.4 overs.

To view highlights of Virat Kohli 167, click here

Nonetheless, the innings marked Virat Kohli’s 14th century in Tests, his seventh as India captain and his third of the calendar year after plundering match-winning double hundreds against West Indies and New Zealand in Antigua and Indore respectively earlier in the season.

Remarkably, the skipper also carved out a brisk 81 in India’s second-innings total of 204, thereby contributing nearly 40 percent share of his team’s runs. Overall, the prolific right-hander aggregated 248 runs across both innings, and India’s win margin turned out to be that of 246 as the hosts went 1-0 up in the series.

Virat Kohli also composed a remarkable double century the following month in the same series to cap one of his most prolific years of Test cricket with 1,215 runs in just 18 innings at an astonishing average of 75.93 with a strike rate of above 60.