Virat Kohli made it a Test match to remember against West Indies in Trinidad, bringing up his 29th Test century in what was his 500th international match on Friday.
Also read: Virat Kohli turns back the clock with determined Test century
Kohli got to his century in 180 deliveries, scoring 10 fours in the process. He was dismissed for 121, courtesy a run-out initiated by Alzarri Joseph.
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His century helped India post 438 in the first innings after being asked to bat, and India fielding coach T Dilip hailed Kohli’s temperament and the way he paced his innings.
“One good factor is it is his 500th match and it is a special occasion and he has continued his form from the last match. If you look at his innings, there was no flamboyant drive, he had to grind it, same as what he did in the first game,” Dilip said at the press conference after play on Day two.
“His application was fantastic and at the same time, temperament on this wicket… there were times when the West Indies bowlers came good and he respected them. Overall, the way he paced the innings was fantastic,” he added.
Dilip explained how Kohli was serious about his fitness. “He walks the talk. If he speaks about fitness, he will be the first person to be there,” said Dilip.
“He has been consistently an attacking fielder on the field, mainly credit to his discipline, what he eats, how he takes care of himself,” he added.
“It has been 10 years, he is still an attacking fielder, so it rubs on to the youngsters when a person like him is running around and takes those catches and attacks the ball so well,” commented Dilip.
Kohli forged a 159-run stand for the fifth wicket with Ravindra Jadeja, who brought up his 18th Test half-century. Later, Ashwin brought up his 13th Test fifty.
“If you look at Ashwin and Jadeja, everyone knows about their bowling performance. But of late, especially Jadeja, he has improved his batting tremendously that he is batting nearly at number six now, it is a fantastic sign for India,” said Dilip.
“Ashwin always has the temperament and application to score runs, having these two together gives us the advantage in bowling of course but also get depth in batting which we need,” he continued.
Pacer Mukesh Kumar was handed his India Test debut on Thursday, and Dilip credited his Ranji Trophy career as his turning point.
“If you look back at his journey, he deserves this. Everybody looks at the IPL performance which he has recently done but he has been in the system with Ranji trophy, for 3-4 seasons he is continuously bowling,” said Dilip.
West Indies are 86/1 in their first innings, with Ravindra Jadeja having removed Tagenarine Chanderpaul. They trail India by 362 runs.
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