Virat Kohli in complete control of his game, Australian pacer Pat Cummins

India captain Virat Kohli slammed his first international hundred of 2019 at home on Tuesday against Australia. The 116 off 120 balls saw India returning to the game after early blows and eventually turning the tables on the Kangaroos, winning by eight runs, in the end, to take a 2-0 lead in the five-game series. It was Kohli’s second ODI hundred against Australia in the year after the 104 he hit in Adelaide in January and overall his 40th.

He is only the second batsman on the planet to score those many tons in the 50-overs format after the legendary Sachin Tendulkar (49). Australian cricketers conceded after the game that it was the Indian captain’s century that had made the difference between the winners and losers in the game.

Besides Aussie captain Aaron Finch who eventually showed some signs of form in the game, pacer Pat Cummins also credited Kohli, the Player of the Match, for his contribution in the game. Kohli’s 116 and a couple of supporting innings from Vijay Shankar (46) and Ravindra Jadeja (21) saw India scoring 250 and then the bowlers chipped in on time to derail the visitors’ chase as they managed 242 in the end.

‘Kohli was the difference’

“I think he (Kohli) was the difference, for sure. We had a couple of really good partnerships, Marcus (Stonis) got 50-odd, a couple of guys got really good starts but we didn’t have that one guy (player) who got on with it,” DNA sited reports as quoting Cummins, who personally had a good game with 4 wickets for 29.

“(And he) just played really good shots. I thought, for the most part, we bowled quite well to him but especially the way he played some of the spin, which looked quite tough to play on that wicket, was certainly the difference.”

The 25-year-old pacer also described Kohli as someone ‘who just looks in complete command of his game at the moment’.

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