India vs Windies: Sunil Gavaskar makes a mighty bold claim about Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli is back in the Indian team and has inevitably notched up yet another Test century on home soil, against the Windies on Day 2 in Rajkot. There were some scintillating performances from his teammates, namely debutant Prithvi Shaw and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, both of whom brought up their maiden Test centuries. Youngster Rishabh Pant blasted his way to 92 but missed out on a second consecutive hundred. Local boy Cheteshwar Pujara was also amongst the runs as he contributed 86 to India’s mammoth first innings total of 649.

Kohli was unbeaten on 72 at Stumps on Day 1, and it didn’t take him too long to get to his 24th Test century that made him the second fastest player to those many tons in the format. Shortly after his remarkable feat, former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar made a bold claim about the Indian skipper. Unlike Shaw and Pant, who showed urgency in scoring their runs, Virat Kohli exhibited a calm and collected version of himself out in the middle.

He cantered to his century off 230 deliveries, laced with 10 boundaries. With this 24th ton in his 123rd Test appearance for India, Virat became the fastest Indian to achieve the feat, overhauling greats Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar. To add to his successes, the captain also completed 1000 Test runs in 2018, thus achieving the feat for three consecutive years now.

Kohli the best in the world: Gavaskar

Clearly impressed with the way Kohli batted, Sunil Gavaskar said, “Virat Kohli is the best batsman across formats in the modern era. He is by far the best batsman in the world. The way he applies himself is hard to describe. It is beyond phenomenon. If only the West Indies batsmen took a leaf out of his book.

On Thursday, he was not very smooth to start off with perhaps because he was coming back after a break. Then he was in cruise control. Despite the heat, he ran hard not just for himself but also for his batting partner at the other end,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying in India Today.

However, the former India captain was very critical of the Windies side. “This is not the best of West Indian sides we have seen from the past. But we must not forget Indian teams have also been beaten inside three days in the past. Their batting approach was a little hard to understand. Nobody was ready to buckle down,” he added.

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