Flashback: Virat Kohli’s first Test double ton

Virat Kohli has been the best batter across all formats in the last decade and has played some memorable innings in his illustrious career to guide India to victory. The batting maestro was at his very best against the West Indies in the 2016 tour, where he registered his first-ever double ton in Test cricket.

India opted to bat first at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua and lost opener, Murali Vijay, cheaply, but Cheteshwar Pujara and Shikhar Dhawan steadied the ship for India before the former was sent back to the hut. Pujara’s dismissal brought the Indian skipper to the crease.

Kohli took India to safety with a 105-run stand with Dhawan and played some trademark cover drives. The impregnable batter looked in ominous touch when he raised his bat after breaching the three-figure mark. He shared an astonishing 168-run stand with bowling allrounder Ravichandran Ashwin, bringing up his maiden double century in the process.

His sensational innings meant that he became the first-ever Indian skipper to register an overseas double century. Sir Vivian Richards, who was in attendance for the game, also appreciated the batting maestro’s trailblazing double century as India posted a mammoth 556 runs on the board, also thanks to another terrific century, which came from R Ashwin’s blade.

India went on to win the series opener by an innings and 92 runs as Ashwin wreaked havoc with the ball, scalping seven wickets in the third innings.

Virat Kohli went on to add to his tally of double centuries by notching up another six double tons to move up to fourth place in the list of players with most double centuries in Tests. He is five behind the iconic Sir Don Bradman, four behind the indomitable Kumar Sangakkara, and two behind the legendary Brian Lara.