Indian spinners weaved magic on the last day to give India an emphatic win over England in the second test at Vizag, but the player of the match was undoubtedly skipper Virat Kohli. Though India won the match by 246 runs in the end, it was mainly due to the huge first innings lead of 200 runs. In the second innings where the ball was turning viciously, India was able to make only 204, of which Kohli had contributed 81 runs. This was the difference between Kohli and the rest.
AFP
Even during the first test at Rajkot when India was chasing a target of 310 on the final day, it was captain Kohli who had steadied the ship with an unbeaten 49 runs as India drew the match with their score at 172/6. In the last 16 second innings Kohli has played, he has amassed 623 runs at an average of 41.53 with a century, three fifties and another three 40 plus scores. Kohli¡¯s record is comparable with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid for the second innings. Tendulkar ended his career with 1625 runs at an average of nearly 37 and Dravid had 1552 at an average of nearly 41 runs per innings.
In the past few years, India has come to rely heavily on Ajinkya Rahane in the second innings. Rahane has been impressive with 542 runs in 16 innings at an average of 45.16 with two hundreds and one fifty. But even Rahane could manage only 26 runs in the second innings at Vizag which along with debutante Jayant Yadav¡¯s 27 not out was the next best performance.
Reuters
In the past few years, India has come to rely heavily on Ajinkya Rahane in the second innings. Rahane has been impressive with 542 runs in 16 innings at an average of 45.16 with two hundreds and one fifty. But even Rahane could manage only 26 runs in the second innings at Vizag which along with debutante Jayant Yadav¡¯s 27 not out was the next best performance.
Other top batsmen like KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha and R Ashwin could manage only 23 runs among themselves is a reflection of how tough batting must have been on the pitch in the second innings. Little wonder Kohli¡¯s knock is being hailed as a class act on a tricky pitch.
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