India vs England: Virat Kohli leads from the front to score first hundred in England

Virat Kohli celebrates after reaching his century. (Source: Reuters)

India captain Virat Kohli smashed his first hundred on English soil in Test cricket on Thursday. Laying the horrors of the 2014 series to rest, Kohli batted with grit and patience to bring up his 100 in 172 balls during the second day of the first Test at Edgbaston. After reaching the three-figure mark, Kohli celebrated with gusto by raising his bat and then kissing his ring-necklace.

Kohli reached his 22nd Test ton with a slice over the point region in the 65th over of India’s innings. His fantastic innings was also laced with 16 beautiful boundaries. However, the Indian skipper who came in to bat at number four also survived two dropped chances. Making most of those opportunities he made the English bowlers pay and in the context of this series, his knock is invaluable. Kohli was ultimately dismissed for 149 but that was not before he had taken India’s scoreboard to 274, 13 runs short of England’s first innings score of 287.

The man of the hour #KingKohli.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/UtX8Ma38tm

— BCCI (@BCCI) 2 August 2018

Kohli is widely regarded as one of the best stroke players in the world but his knock at Edgbaston was measured as he left more than 15 percent of the balls alone.

Also read: Twitter congratulates Virat Kohli for a ‘brilliant ton when the team needed it the most’

Meanwhile, in the list of most hundreds as a Test captain Kohli is now third on the list with 15. Graeme Smith leads the tally with 25, Ricky Ponting is next with 19.