World media hails Virat Kohli's heroics after he scored 149 in the first Test
Kohli scored his first Test hundred in England and it gave his team a new hope in the match.
Newspapers, TV channels, and websites worldwide recognized India captain Virat Kohli’s 22nd Test century as one of his best innings yet, as he instigated and staged an Indian fightback in the 1st Test at Edgbaston. Kohli had come under a lot of scrutiny with his performance on the previous tour- a deflating 1-3 gruelling- as he could only muster 134 runs in 10 innings, with not even a single fifty score.
He shut down the critics, with the first opportunity he got, in the way that he knows best- amassing 149 runs in his first innings on this tour. This knock is special for more reasons than one- not only did it almost completely overturn what would’ve been a large deficit and bring India back in the game, it also fought probably the biggest stigma of Kohli’s career; his torrid record in England, coming at a time when the next best score in the entire Indian innings was 39.
It was a masterclass of batting as he partnered with the tail, and added 57 for the last wicket partnership with Umesh Yadav, with the latter’s contribution being just 1.
Although it is still early days in the Test series, Kohli has surely issued a statement of intent to the England cricket team giving them a trailer of what they could hit them in the upcoming Test matches. He might’ve offered up a few chances early in his innings, but looked more solid and confident as it progressed, scoring over half the runs scored by the entire Indian team.
From England to Australia all hail King Kohli
His efforts were hailed by the world media, as the Cricket Australia and ECB Facebook Pages both praised the Indian captain, and “King Kohli” Tweets and hashtags went viral throughout social media.
“King Kohli reigns as India fight back,” read a cricket.com.au headline.
“Virat Kohli, the single-handed hero, produced the innings of a lifetime to keep his side in what has become a wonderfully volatile game of cricket,” theguardian.com wrote in their day report.
“This was Test cricket at its finest, a compelling ding-dong of a contest that saw England and India scrapping toe to toe before a true heavyweight champion displayed his peerless punching power. This was a day that belonged to India’s colossus of a captain Virat Kohli, who almost single-handedly turned the first installment of this highly anticipated five-match series into a one-innings dogfight,” read a dailymail.co.uk article.
“Sam Curran tears through top order but masterly Virat Kohli saves India with magnificent century,” read a telegraph.co.uk headline.
“Masterly Virat Kohli saves India with magnificent century at Edgbaston,” stuff.co.nz wrote in their headline.
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