Azhar Mahmood in awe watching Indian captain Virat Kohli lead from the front

The Indian team was in deep troubles, five down for just 100 runs and lost seven with 169 runs on the board but then there was captain Virat Kohli holding one end. Their openers Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay established a strong platform with a 50-run partnership but it all went downhill once Sam Curran beat Vijay and hit his pads right in front of the stumps.

The left-arm seamer got three wickets in that spell and in another eight overs, Ben Stokes dealt India another couple of blows to drop them in deep waters of a stormy sea. Amidst all that Kohli fought his own battle, James Anderson troubled him taking the ball away from, tempting him with the outside off-stump line, beating him, creating edges, most didn’t carry a couple did but were grassed.

Kohli then got in his zone, the zone where he starts to boss over the bowlers and suddenly his drive was smoother, he was flicking the ball on the on-side off his pads. There was little tentativeness, a lot of assurance, immense focus and runs were coming in thick.

Kohli’s first Test hundred in England

When Mohammed Shami got out the Indians were still over a 100 runs far from England’s first innings score. The Indian skipper had to invaluable partnerships with Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav where he held the strike for the most part of it.

Soon enough he converted his half century into a huge knock and was on the verge of a hundred when No.9 got out. But Umesh unlike any other day was a lot more patient today and helped his skipper go about business even playing an entire over from Ben Stokes at one point.

Kohli got to his hundred, his first in England, 22nd overall but the job wasn’t done. He punished all the bad balls and even the good ones, the field was spread now and the pressure was on England as their lead got thinner every over. He eventually got out on 149 but by then India were just 13 short of the English total.

Former Pakistan cricketer Azhar Mahmood lauded Kohli’s effort and tweeted-  “Congratulations to @imVkohli for a fantastic ,great knock! A captain leading from the front, a delight to watch. #ENGVIND”

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