Former India captain Virat Kohli on Sunday (March 12) ended his three-year-long wait for a Test century by smashing a 364-ball 186 in the fourth Test against Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Kohli was praised worldwide for his 28th Test century and 75th international hundred, but stand-in Australian captain Steve Smith also heaped special praise on him.
Kohli has always been part of the ‘Fab Four’ that included Smith, Kane Williamson and Joe Root – four of the best batsmen in international cricket in the last decade. Kohli and Smith were mutually complimentary on the fourth day of the fourth Test and their heartwarming gesture went viral on social media.
After the dismissal of spinner Todd MurphyWhile returning to the pavilion, Smith praised Kohli fiercely. Smith shook his hand and patted the batsman on the back.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) posted the picture on Twitter acknowledging Smith’s gesture. “Respect and appreciation,” BCCI said in its tweet.
_ Respect and Appreciation __#TeamIndia , #INDvAUS , @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/e5QJcj4OiL
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 12, 2023
Both the batsmen have had illustrious careers in Test cricket as batsmen. Kohli has scored 8,416 runs in 108 matches and 183 innings at an average of 48.93. He has scored 28 centuries and as many half-centuries with a personal best score of 254 not out.
Smith, on the other hand, has represented Australia in 96 Tests, scoring 8,782 runs at an average of 59.74. He has scored 30 centuries and 37 half-centuries in the format, with a personal best score of 239 not out.
With this century, Kohli finally scored a century in all three formats after failing to score an international century from November 2019 to September 8, 2022. On 8 September 2022, during the Asia Cup 2022 match against Afghanistan, Virat brought up his century. Drought of 1,021 days in international cricket as well.
He played an unbeaten inning of 122 runs in 61 balls. It was also Kohli’s first century in T20I cricket. His last international ton before this came in a Test match against Bangladesh in November 2019. He followed it up by breaking his ODI century drought on 10 December 2022 during the 3rd ODI against Bangladesh.
He ended his ODI drought of 1,116 days by scoring 113 runs from 91 balls. Prior to this, his last ODI ton was against the West Indies in August 2019. The first half of 2022 was full of struggle for Virat as he managed only 476 runs in 16 matches at an average of 25.05 in 19 innings with only four fifties. centuries.
(With ANI inputs)