The peerless Virat Kohli headlined his 500th international appearance with a 76th hundred as India coasted to a healthy first innings score of 438 in the first innings, on the second day of the second Test against the West Indies on Friday. Kohli, who missed out on a hundred in the previous Test, made a polished 121 in 206 balls, his 29th in the longest format, getting on even keel with none other than the legendary Sir Donald Bradman.
In the process, he also added 159 runs for the fifth wicket with Ravindra Jadeja (61 off 152 balls), who also scored his 19th half-century in Tests. After the ton, Kohli's wife and actor Anushka Sharma posted a special message on her Instagram story.
Both were dismissed in quick succession as Kohli fell short of his crease and West Indies' best bowler Kemar Roach (3/104 in 22 overs) accounted for Jadeja.
Ravichandran Ashwin (56 off 78 balls), with four hundreds against the same opposition, did look comfortable against both spin and pace as he played some adventurous ramp shots off Roach to help himself to a half-century.
Ishan Kishan (25) would be cursing himself for not making full use of decent batting conditions and a platform set by top-order batters.
The first session of the second day undoubtedly belonged to Kohli, who was hardly troubled by any of the West Indies pacers, having taken 77 runs in singles, doubles and triples apart from the 11 boundaries in all.
Starting the day at 87, Kohli reached his century in the first half an hour while dispatching a Roach delivery wide of point with a stretched square drive. The wide grin while raising his bat and then taking a bow said it all.
The satisfaction of scoring his first overseas Test hundred in half a decade was palpable, having last scored a ton on foreign soil in Perth in 2018.
The Queens Park Oval track is certainly way better for strokeplay compared to first Test venue of Windsor Park in Dominica. One could hit through the line even though there were deliveries that were gripping off the surface and some that stopped and came onto the bat.
Kohli's greatness lay in his game awareness as the cornerstone of his innings was 45 singles and 13 doubles in energy sapping conditions.
He would be pleased because as many as nine of his 11 boundaries were hit on the off-side with the signature cover drive coming out of his closet time and again.
To his relief, the absence of off-break Rahkeem Cornwall did make things a bit easier as left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican (3/89 in 39 overs), despite his restrictive lines, did not get a lot of purchase off the surface.
Most of the deliveries come in with the angle and it was easier to just tickle it off his hips for singles and doubles.
Kohli got an able ally in Jadeja, who got another half-century and reaffirmed his status as a batting all-rounder in overseas conditions.