Super Kohli climbs ‘The Wall’ and eclipses ‘The Don’
hyderabad — Indian captain Virat Kohli continued his unbelievable record-breaking spree on Friday and surpassed the legendary Sir Donald Bradman and Rahul Dravid by becoming the first batsman to score double hundreds in four successive Test series.
Kohli’s double tons came in the series against the West Indies, New Zealand, England and now Bangladesh, which is in India for a one-off Test. Bradman and Dravid had achieved the feat in three successive series.
Kohli hit his maiden double hundred (200) at North Sound against the West Indies in July last year followed by 211 against New Zealand at Indore in October. This was followed by his current career-best score of 235 against England in Mumbai in December and now 204 against Bangladesh.
While statistically Kohli had broken Bradman and Dravid’s record but a cursory look at ‘The Don’s’ statistics would tell that his numbers during that 1930-31 phase was phenomenal.
In the 1930 Ashes series in England between June and August, the then 22-year-old Bradman scored 254 at Lord’s, 334 (his career best) at the Leeds (Headingley) followed by 232 at the Oval — all in a single series.
In the following series against the West Indies in January 1931, Don hit 223 at Brisbane (the series was played in Australia). The next series that he played against South
The initial years as captain are smooth and Virat is going through that phase Sourav Ganguly
Africa (again Down Under), he hit 226 at Brisbane becoming the first batsman to score a double hundred in three successive series.
For Dravid, the hat-trick of double hundreds in successive series came in the 2003-04 season. He scored 222 against New Zealand at Ahmedabad (October 2003) followed by 233 against Australia at Adelaide (December 2003). The hat-trick was accomplished with his career-best 270 against Pakistan in the very next series.
Meanwhile, former India captain Sourav Ganguly said Kohli is going through relatively smooth initial days as skipper.
“The initial years as captain are smooth and Virat is going through that phase. He is a phenomena and with each game is taking his batting to another level,” Ganguly, who captained India to the 2003 World Cup final, said after Kohli became the first player to score double tons in four consecutive Test series, surpassing legendary Sir Donald Bradman and Rahul Dravid.
Bradman and Dravid had achieved the feat in three successive series. Kohli’s double-tons came in the series against the West Indies, New Zealand, England and now Bangladesh, which is visiting India for a one-off Test. The Delhi boy slammed 204 off 246 balls, hitting 24 fours.
Asked if he can get past Sachin Tendulkar’s record of hundred hundreds, Ganguly said that is still some time away and there is no need to draw such comparisons.
“Let us enjoy his batting for the time being. Hundred hundreds is still far away,” Ganguly said.
Kohli has so far racked up 42 tons in all formats. While he has 15 to his name in the longest version of the game, in ODIs where he known to be more lethal, he has 27. — Agencies