Virat Kohli overtakes Sachin Tendulkar to become the most decorated Indian player in Australia

Virat Kohli smashed his 81st international hundred and his 30th Test century in the first of the five-match Test series against Australia.

Virat Kohli overtakes Sachin Tendulkar to become the most decorated Indian player in Australia

Virat Kohli overtakes Sachin Tendulkar to become the most decorated Indian player in Australia (Via X)

Virat Kohli made his welcome return to form in the longest format of the game. The former Indian captain smashed his 81st international hundred and his 30th Test century in the first of the five-match Test series against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25 in Perth. In the second innings of the first Test, Kohli remained not-out on 100 runs off 143 deliveries when Jasprit Bumrah declared the innings with a lead of 521 runs.

Kohli also went on to become the most decorated player on Australian soil. He has now registered the highest number of centuries by an Indian batter against Australia in Australia.

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Sachin Tendulkar had scored six centuries, Sunil Gavaskar had five and now Kohli has scored his seventh century on Australian soil.

Kohli had a poor outing in the home series against New Zealand in which India were whitewashed 3-0. The pressure was on the former Indian captain as his place and future in the Indian Test team was being questioned. However, as he often does, he has silenced the detractors with a special century at the Optus stadium in Perth.

AUS vs IND: India are in the driver’s seat going into the fourth day in Perth

Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 161 runs off 297 deliveries in the second innings, followed by KL Rahul scoring 77 runs. Kohli’s century added the icing on the cake and India declared their second innings on 487-6.

They set a target of 534 runs to chase for the Australians. By the end of Day 3, the Aussies are already 12-3 in 4.2 overs and starring at the brink of defeat.

Virat Kohli overtakes Sachin Tendulkar to become the most decorated Indian player in Australia
Virat Kohli overtakes Sachin Tendulkar to become the most decorated Indian player in Australia (Via X)

Jasprit Bumrah has already scalped two wickets, and Mohammed Siraj has picked up one wicket. The cracks on the wicket have opened up and the pitch is also displaying variable bounce. Team India are completely in the driver’s seat and it looks likely that they will go 1-0 up on the fourth day.

Meanwhile, in the first innings, India were dismissed for just 150 but bowled out Australia for 104 runs. So, this is a serious comeback from Bumrah’s team after they were strangled on the first day of the series.

From Australia’s point of view, they will need the likes of Steve Smith, Travis Head and Usman Khawaja to fire with the bat if they need to have any chance of getting this match out of India’s grasps on Day 4.