Ahmedabad: Come hell or high water, Virat Kohli was going to make a century for India this Test match. By going on to 186, he batted a tiring, wounded Australia out of the game.
More than three years and 41 knocks since his last hundred, Kohli applied deep reserves of concentration and a preference for hard-run ones and twos – notching only five boundaries – to outlast Australia’s attack on an Ahmedabad pitch that has stubbornly refused to break up.
With some lively help from the irrepressible Axar Patel (79) and KS Bharat (44), Kohli accelerated as the day went on to drive India to 571, 91 runs ahead of Australia’s 480. Travis Head and Matt Kuhnemann, a left-field understudy for an injured Usman Khawaja, narrowly survived the last 15 minutes for the addition of three runs.
Tapping his 241st delivery gently through the leg side to reach the second slowest of his 28 centuries, Kohli marked the moment with something more like relief than outright celebration, smiling at the team viewing area as he raised his bat.
After play, Kohli’s wife Anushka posted on Instagram to reveal her husband had been fighting illness during the innings: “Playing through sickness with this composure. Inspiring as always.”
Kohli’s efforts were given added importance by the absence of Shreyas Iyer with a back complaint. Khawaja had sought treatment after jarring his left knee when trying to catch Axar on the long-off boundary.
India are not guaranteed of their position in the World Test Championship final without victory in this last match; Sri Lanka have a puncher’s chance of defeating New Zealand in the concurrent Test in Christchurch with one day to play, and would then need to go 2-0 in Wellington.
Australia’s place in the decider is secure, and the touring side gained further succour through their persistence and discipline in Ahmedabad, forcing India to bat deep into the final session on day four.
