Rajneesh Gupta gives us all the stats and facts around the sensational Virat Kohli.
Virat Kohli bettered the records of Don Bradman and Rahul Dravid after becoming the first player in Test history to score a double hundred in FOUR consecutive series.
Bradman and Dravid scored double hundreds in three consecutive series.
Kohli's double hundreds came in the series against the West Indies, New Zealand, England and Bangladesh.
Kohli also broke another Test record on the way to his classy double century.
Double hundreds in most consecutive series
Series | Player | Score | Season |
4 | Virat Kohli | 200 v WI, 211 v NZ, 235 v Eng & 204 v Ban | 2016-2016/17 |
3 | Don Bradman | 254, 334, 232 v Eng, 223 v WI & 226,229* v SA | 1930-1931/32 |
3 | Rahul Dravid | 222 v NZ, 233 v Aus, 270 v Pak | 2003/04 |
Virat reached another milestone on Friday, February 10 -- he has now scored 1,168 runs in Test matches at home in the 2016/17 season, which is a new record in Test cricket.
The previous record was held by Virender Sehwag who had aggregated 1,105 runs in the 2004-05 season.
Most runs in Tests in a home season
Matches | Runs | Average | 100 | 50 | Season | |
Virat Kohli (India) | 9 | 1,168 | 89.84 | 4 | 2 | 2016/17 |
Virender Sehwag (India) | 9 | 1,105 | 69.06 | 4 | 3 | 2004/05 |
Graham Gooch (England) | 6 | 1,058 | 96.18 | 4 | 3 | 1990 |
Sunil Gavaskar (India) | 13 | 1,027 | 51.35 | 3 | 4 | 1979/80 |
Dilip Vengsarkar (India) | 10 | 966 | 107.33 | 4 | 3 | 1986/87 |
Ricky Ponting (Australia) | 6 | 965 | 107.22 | 3 | 3 | 2003/04 |
There is a definite shift in Virat's batting ever since his elevation to the captaincy.
Virat had been a world-class batsman even when he was not leading the side, but ever since he has become captain, he seems to be in a different league altogether.
Take a look at the following table:
Virat as a player and as a captain
Tests | Runs | Highest Score | Average | 100s | 50s | |
As player | 31 | 2,098 | 169 | 41.13 | 7 | 10 |
As captain | 23 | 2,315 | 235 | 68.08 | 9 | 4 |
Total | 54 | 4,413 | 235 | 51.91 | 16 | 14 |
Different players react differently to the burdens of captaincy.
While some players' batting get pressured by captaincy, others are able to raise their standards.
Virat belongs to the second group.
He averages nearly 27 points more in matches he has captained than when in the team as a player.
No other Indian player comes anywhere near Virat in raising his batting skills so much while captaining the side.
A comparative study of all players who have led India in at least five Tests -- their batting average while as a player vis-a-vis as captain.
Keeping out players like Bishan Singh Bedi, S Venkatraghavan, Anil Kumble etc who were in the team for their bowling skills rather than their batting skills leaves us with 15 names.
There are only 4 names who have performed better as captain.
Virat obviously tops the chart, with M S Dhoni a distant second.
Indian captains
Batting avg as player | Batting avg as captain | Diff | |
Virat Kohli | 41.13 | 68.08 | +26.95 |
M S Dhoni | 33.07 | 40.64 | +7.57 |
Kapil Dev | 30.83 | 31.72 | +0.89 |
Lala Amarnath | 24.21 | 24.50 | +0.29 |
Dilip Vengsarkar | 42.14 | 42.08 | -0.06 |
Sunil Gavaskar | 51.33 | 50.72 | -0.61 |
Mohammad Azharuddin | 46.01 | 43.94 | -2.07 |
Sachin Tendulkar | 54.17 | 51.35 | -2.82 |
Nari Contractor | 32.91 | 29.17 | -3.74 |
M A K 'Tiger' Pataudi | 41.00 | 34.14 | -6.86 |
Ajit Wadekar | 34.10 | 26.75 | -7.35 |
Sourav Ganguly | 45.16 | 37.66 | -7.50 |
Rahul Dravid | 54.13 | 44.51 | -9.62 |
Polly Umrigar | 43.74 | 32.83 | -10.91 |
G S Ramchand | 27.41 | 12.33 | -15.08 |
Vijay Hazare | 54.92 | 39.73 | -15.19 |
Vinoo Mankad | 33.67 | 9.17 | -24.50 |
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