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India has played four pink-ball Tests so far, and Virat Kohli has featured in all of them. Here’s a look at Kohli’s performances in day-night Tests:
Virat Kohli’s is India’s leading run scorer in pink ball Tests. (Picture Credit: AP)
India will face Australia in the second Test of the ongoing five-match series in Adelaide. The match, which is scheduled to start on Friday (December 6) at Adelaide Oval, is going to be a day-night affair and will be played with a pink ball. India has played four day-night Tests so far and managed to win three of them. India’s last day-night Test was against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru from March 12 to 14 in 2022, and since then the Indian men’s cricket team hasn’t participated in any pink ball Test.
Former Indian captain Virat Kohli, who scored an unbeaten century in the second innings of the Perth Test against Australia, which India won by 295 runs on November 25, has played all four pink-ball Tests for India so far. He holds the record for scoring the most runs for India and is also the only Indian batter to score a century in a day-night Test.
Indian team management and fans will have high hopes from Kohli once again, and he is expected to live up to his reputation and come up with a big show.
Ahead of the start of the 2nd India-Australia Test, here’s a look at Virat Kohli’s performance in the four pink-ball Tests played so far:
136 vs Bangladesh in Kolkata, November 2019
India played its first pink ball Test against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens in Kolkata from November 22 to 24 in 2019. In a match that India won by an innings and 46 runs margin, Kohli scored a century for India. After coming out to bat at No. 4, the right-handed batter scored 136 runs from 194 balls with the help of 18 fours. He didn’t get a chance to bat in the second innings.
74 & 4 vs Australia in Adelaide, December 2020
Kohli scored 74 runs from 180 balls in the first innings and 4 runs from eight balls in the second innings of the only day-night Test played away from home. However, his effort went in vain as the Aussies hammered India by 8 wickets in the match played at Adelaide Oval from December 17 to 19 in 2020.
27 vs England in Ahmedabad, February 2021
England was India’s opposition in the team’s third pink-ball Test, which was played at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on February 24 and 25 in 2021. In the match that finished inside two days, India hammered England by 10 wickets. Kohli got a chance to bat only once in the match, and in that he scored 27 runs from 58 balls with the help of three fours.
23 & 13 vs Sri Lanka in Bengaluru, March 2022
In India’s last pink-ball Test, which was played at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium from March 12 to 14 in 2022 against Sri Lanka, Kohli scored 23 and 13 runs. He faced 48 balls in the first inning and 16 in the second and hammered 2 and 1 four, respectively, to play a part in India’s big win by 238 runs.
Kohli’s overall record in pink-ball Tests
- Matches: 4
- Runs: 277 runs (most by an Indian batter)
- Average: 46.17
- Best Score: 136 vs Bangladesh, November 2019
- 100s: One century
- Fours: 33
- Wins as captain: 2
- Highest partnership: 99 runs for the 4th wicket with Ajinkya Rahane against Bangladesh in November 2019.
