Twitter Reactions: Normalcy resumes as Virat Kohli slams his 26th Test century

Steve Smith returning to Test cricket with a bang saw Virat Kohli losing his top spot in the ICC Rankings for the batsmen. The Indian captain also didn’t live up to his standards in the West Indies as well which led to his ratings go down. Even the first Test against South Africa saw him getting out to the debutant Senuran Muthusamy when the foundation was set by the openers.  However, Virat Kohli announced his arrival in Pune by hitting his 26th Test ton.

He came out to bat with the team comfortably placed at 163/2 but saw the centurion Mayank Agarwal get out soon. At 198/3, there was a chance for South Africa to make a comeback. Kagiso Rabada was steaming in and bowling at pace while there was relentless pressure from the other end as well. Ajinkya Rahane joined Kohli during this challenging period and the duo duly played out the tricky period.

There were a few plays and misses too. Virat Kohli though was adamant on not leaving the gate open for the visitors and amidst the tough period, also played a couple of glorious strokes whenever the bowlers sprayed. Also, the bad light helped India as the play was stopped with five overs to go. Kohli ended the day with 63 runs to his name and he had just started to gain his fluency.

Kohli gets to his 26th ton in the first session of Day 2

The second day was not going to be easy either. With the second new ball only five overs old, the South African bowlers bowled superbly to keep the batsmen on the tenterhooks. But Rahane and Virat Kohli were unperturbed and respected the good deliveries. The latter rather played a fruitful straight drive as well when Rabada overpitched and that shot cleared the Indian captain is looking good for his ton.

Rahane also got into his elements soon which took some pressure off the 30-year-old. The partnership grew steadily and with it, India’s strengthened their hold on the Test match. South Africa kept it tight consistently not giving him easy runs as Kohli got closer to the three-figure mark.

But he is Kohli. Once he gets in, he makes merry of the conditions and the opposition and he did the same. And Virat Kohli got to his milestone with another one of those glorious straight drives off Vernon Philander. The sparse crowd was delighted to witness the moment as the Indian skipper soaked in all the applause coming his way. He smacked 16 fours on his way to the glory and is now back to the grind in order to help India post a huge first-innings total.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to the majestic knock: