One of the greatest batters in history, Virat Kohli wasn't the man in focus on Day 2 of the first Test against West Indies, with the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma scoring centuries to put India in the driver's seat. Yet, Kohli managed to bag another big milestone to his name, leaving behind one of the finest openers in the game, Virender Sehwag. With his unbeaten 36-run knock on Thursday, Kohli saw himself earning a promotion to the top 5 Test batters in the history of Indian cricket.
With his stay on the crease on Day 2, Kohli went past Sehwag (8503) on the elite list to be placed at the 5th spot in the list of top run-getters for India in Test cricket. He is only behind the legendary Sachin Tendulkar (15921), Rahul Dravid (13265), Sunil Gavaskar (10122) and VVS Laxman (8781) on the list.
Jaiswal and former captain Virat Kohli (36 not out) then played watchfully through the final session and survived a few anxious moments in an unbroken third-wicket stand of 72 which sets the visitors up perfectly on day three to further extend a lead that already stands at an imposing 162 runs.
With rain forecast over the scheduled final two days of the match, it is likely that India will be hoping to get at the West Indies batsmen in the second innings by the third afternoon as they pursue a comprehensive victory to get the new cycle of the World Test Championship underway with maximum points.
Jaiswal's innings, the highest by an Indian debutant outside of his home country and the third highest for Indian debutants overall behind Shikar Dhawan (187) and Sharma himself (177), underscored not just his immense talent but also the 21-year-old's powers of concentration and ability to adapt his game to meet the requirements of Test cricket.
With AFP inputs