In the first five years of his Test career, Virat Kohli had no double centuries. In the last 5 years, he has scored as many as 7 double centuries – 6 at home and 1 away.
He made his first double century against the West Indies in mid-2016. A year and a half later, by the end of 2017, he had 6 double centuries to his name. It seemed that he had finally cracked the code of scoring doubles in Test cricket. Out of the 7 occasions when he scored doubles, India won 6 matches and drew 1 against Sri Lanka. Kohli won five Man of the Match awards in these 7 innings with the rest two going to R Ashwin.
p>Virat Kohli’s first Test double century was made against the West Indies in July 2016 in the first Test of a 4-match series played away from home at Antigua. This was also the first double century ever scored by an Indian captain on foreign soil.
India won the toss and elected to bat first. Kohli walked in at the fall of the second wicket in the form of Cheteshwar Pujara immediately after lunch in the 28th over. Virat formed a 100-run partnership with Shikhar Dhawan and then a fifty partnership with Ajinkya Rahane. Kohli completed his century in 134 balls in the session following the tea break.
Kohli began Day-2 at 143 and went on to register his first double hundred – in 284 balls with 24 fours – before lunch. He was bowled by Gabriel on 200. India declared their first innings on 566 and went on to win the Test by an innings and 92 runs.
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211 against New Zealand at Indore in 2016
i scored his second double century at home in Indore in the third Test of a 3-match series against New Zealand in October 2016. Opting to bat first, Kohli came to the crease before lunch at 60 for 2. After the wicket of Pujara at the team score of 100, Kohli formed a partnership with Rahane and completed the century just before the close of play on Day-1.
Starting Day-2 on 103, Kohli motored along to score 150 off 273 balls and then 200 off 347 balls in the afternoon session. When Kohli got out on 211, India’s score was 465. India declared for 557 for 5 in the first innings and eventually won the Test by 321 runs.
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235 against England at Mumbai in 2016
s third double century was made at Mumbai in December 2016 in the fourth Test against England. After bowling England out for 400, India began their innings confidently.
Kohli walked in to bat early on Day-3 with 146 runs on the board already. He completed the century in the post-tea session and ended the day on 147. On Day-4, Kohli reached 200 in 302 balls in the first session. He got out to Chris Woakes on 235, trying to up the ante. India declared soon on 631 and went on to win the Test by an innings and 36 runs. Kohli received his first Man of the Match award after the double century.
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204 against Bangladesh at Hyderabad in 2016
trong>204 against Bangladesh in a one-off Test at Hyderabad in February 2017 turned out to be a record-breaking double century for Virat Kohli. With this, he became the only player in Test history to score 4 consecutive double hundreds in 4 consecutive Test series, surpassing Sir Donald Bradman and Rahul Dravid who had 3 doubles in 3 consecutive series.
Batting first, Virat Kohli came in when India were 180 for 2 and he left when the team score read 465. In between, Kohli scored 204 in 246 balls with 24 fours. India declared the innings on 687 for 6 and eventually won the Test by 208 runs. Kohli was awarded the Man of the Match.
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213 against Sri Lanka at Nagpur in 2017
trong>5th double century for Virat Kohli took place in the second Test of the 3-match series against Sri Lanka in November 2017 at Nagpur. After bowling Sri Lanka out on 205, India began their innings closer to the end of Day-1.
Kohli walked in after a tea break on Day-2 with 216 already on the board. He completed the century in the first session on Day-3 and the double came in the post-tea session off just 259 balls with 15 fours and 2 sixes. India declared on 610 for 6 and eventually won the Test by an innings and 239 runs. Kohli was named the Man of the Match again.
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243 against Sri Lanka at Delhi in 2017
s 6th double century came in the very next Test against Sri Lanka played home in Delhi. Winning the toss and batting first, India piled on 536 for 7 declared in the first innings.
Kohli came in before lunch on Day-1 and departed close to the tea break on Day-2. By then, he had scored 243 runs off just 287 deliveries with 25 fours. Sandakan got him lbw. India soon declared the innings. Sri Lanka did well to draw the Test match eventually. This was the first time India didn’t win a Test after Kohli’s double century. Nevertheless. he was awarded the Man of the Match.
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254 not out against South Africa at Pune in 2019
ing double centuries at will for a year and a half, Kohli could not score one for about 2 years. His latest double century – the 7th – came against South Africa in Pune in October 2019 in the 2nd Test of a 3-match Test series.
Batting first, Kohli started his innings on a solid platform of 163 runs and wasted no time to show his authority. By the end of Day-1, he was not out on 63. In the post-tea session on Day-2, he completed the double century off 295 balls with 28 Fours. His first 250 in Test cricket followed soon as India declared on 601 for 5 with Kohli not out on 254. India did not need to bat again in that match and won the Test by an innings and 137 runs. Kohli was declared the Man of the Match.
