With the first of the five Tests against England starting on Wednesday, India skipper Virat Kohli will be itching to make a big impact at Nottingham, where he guided India to a rare victory on English soil in 2018
India skipper Virat Kohli celebrates his century during the third Test against England at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, in 2018. PIC/AFP
Skipper Virat Kohli is going through a lean patch in Test cricket having failed to score a century in the last 14 innings. Kohli made a big impression during India’s last series in England in 2018 (593 runs in five Tests, including three centuries and two half-centuries). He will be eager to make a big impact with the bat in the first Test against England at Nottingham starting Wednesday, where he scored his last Test century on English soil to guide India to victory against Joe Root & Co in 2018.
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Man-of-the-match Kohli scored 97 and 103 in the first and second innings respectively as the visitors beat England by 203 runs in the third Test of the five-match series.
India were under tremendous pressure to perform at Nottingham after going down to England at Edgbaston and Lord’s in the first and second Tests respectively. England skipper Root’s decision to field backfired as Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane (81) put 159 runs for the fourth wicket to put India in a commanding position at 307-6 on Day One. It was a rare instance to see Kohli falling on 97 after the India skipper was caught by Adil Rashid off pacer Ben Stokes before he smashed 11 boundaries in a 152-ball inning. India’s batting collapsed on the second morning with the last four wickets adding just six runs.
The visitors, however, made a comeback as England tumbled from 54-0 to 161 all out.
Having taken a 168-run first-innings lead, Kohli looked confident in the second essay. He brought up his 50 off just 82 balls. However, his next 50 was marginally slower, off 109 deliveries as the Indian skipper brought up his 23rd Test century off 191 balls—his fourth slowest ton—before being trapped lbw by pacer Chris Woakes on 103. India declared their second innings at 352 for seven. Set a massive target of 521, England were bowled out for 317 as India won its first Test on English soil after five successive defeats. Kohli will hope to produce a similar show to get India off to a winning start in the five-match Test series.
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